Mythology: Night Bane Remastered
by Kristyan
Summary: When Luna is invited to a party by the most popular boy in school, she cant refuse. But what happens when she arrives and her condition begins to surface? A letter is given to her from a mysterious clan in the mountains claiming to be the answer to her "Condition" But what will happen when she arrives and they all have Wolf ears and Tails?
1. Chapter 1

Mythology: Night's bane

Chapter 1: Melenka Wowk (Little wolf)

Any speech in this chapter is Japanese; I do not speak the language. The Speech will remain "Japanese" unless told otherwise

-787-

A Night like no other in the wonder filled city of Tokyo, the Light and neon gem of Japan was still bustling even after Midnight, The metropolitan giant was never asleep, its glow forever emitting into the heavens, in the heart of the city beyond all the hustle and bustle of night life is the residence of our Heroine, our storyteller and just for tonight…..our fellow human

Take in the image. A small apartment complex near the end of one of Tokyo's numerous city blocks

The aged building was still in working order and condition, It was a traditional Japanese style, Paper walls and Wooden Furnishings and wave like roofing tile, Bamboo accented everywhere that was appropriate, however the wood and roof tiles had started to fade, not from exposure to the sun; no, the taller buildings of Tokyo made sure of that, The skyscrapers were so tall that they almost always covered the small complex in shady darkness throughout the day they casted an enormous shadow that was much like a cover, However the fading could be attributed to the constant bombardment the wood receives from the massive neon displays that flank it. Inside, a quaint old woman watches the front desk that was adorned with beautifully painted sakura trees on the front and walls of the foyer. The walls of the entire building were of the same style as the outside, Traditional Japanese with the paper and wood doors and bamboo adorned walls. Little banzai trees accompanied every lonely corner. Even oil lamps were still in use

Up the stairs three flights, which are on the left of the lobby, we find the room of one Luna Tierra, a Young woman who also happens to be our main subject of our chapter, Her Room is 306.

She lives in a rather large 600 square foot apartment. She is 16 years of age and lives alone. Her parents are both very protective and despite her requests to be left alone they still attempt to keep in contact, They annoyed her to the point where she didn't even give them her phone number, which she paid for with her own money, well…..her own money that was given to her by her father.

She is currently in the bathroom, preparing herself for a party, she is 5'0 exactly and Has Long and silk like red hair, a very petite figure made her seem much younger than what she was, a Trait from her mother. She has her father's fiery attitude, and is very charismatic and can talk coherently for hours. She is an eye catcher for many Young men, her "cute" attitude only draws them in further, but she tends to get a bit flustered at times, especially to boys she actually likes. She has tanned skin that was inherited from her Father who hails from Spain.

But poor Luna was a bit…eccentric…..let's face it, she was different, although she got along well with people, and people said she had a different air about her….she carried herself differently…..she lived differently, she acted differently…..it was almost like she wasn't even human. In fact playful rumors had spread that she wasn't even human at all.

They were right

No worries answers will be delivered at the end of this small portion of Luna Tierria's Story

She is currently dressing herself in a Skirt and blouse, both a combination of Red and white, some of her Favorite colors, Patterns adorned the Silk. One of her favorite outfits

Her attention is focused on the smartphone on the sink counter that has a pink cover with a Black cat on the back of it; she watches it expectantly as she finished with her slightly tangled red hair

It vibrates rapidly catching her off guard and making her jump in surprise; she sighs with a smirk and lifts it to her cheek

An instant message glowed on screen

From: Takashi

Hey im here, you ready yet? Oh and Aiyano is with me

She Lit up almost instantaneously, the news of her best friend being with her other friend was more than good news to her

She finished with her hair, she picked up a small glass bottle filled with a pink fluid, a few sprits of perfume and she swiftly grabbed her purse and phone and made her way out of her bathroom

She reached her marble kitchen counter and grabbed her keycard and dashed for the door, as fast as she could go in heels that is.

She opened the brown wooden door and closed it with a loud slam; her hair flowed from the sudden gust of air. She cringed forgetting that it was night time

She was in a hurried pace as she went down the hall, she was careful not to be too loud and wake the other tenants of the complex

When she reached the stair well she pushed the door open slowly and carefully made her way down the stairs, no need to rush on the stairs, what good would it be if she tripped?

She reached the bottom of the stairwell and walked out to the lobby and started to head for the door, in the corner of her eyes she could see someone

The woman that owned the whole complex smiled to Luna from behind the front desk, Luna turned to her and flashed an eye smile back and a toothy grin

"Where are you heading this late dear?" She asked with grandmotherly concern

Luna felt warm inside to hear her sweet voice "Im just going to hang out with some friends"

The older Woman Frowned "Please be careful, you never know who is out on the streets at this time of night." She said with her eyes narrowed. She was being serious

Luna stopped and bowed "yes ma'am, I will be very careful, you have my word"

The old woman softened her expression and smiled "Thank you Dearie, It means a lot to me. Take care!"

Luna nodded once more "yes ma'am!"

"Oh wait one moment!" The older woman called once more

Luna stopped in her tracks "Yes ma'am?" She Repeated

The Woman waved her over "Come here, I have something for you" She said as she walked behind the counter to the room behind her

Luna stepped over in a mild pace, her shoes made a distinctive noise across the wooden floor

The old woman walked out with something in her hands

Luna's eyes widened, her expression one of awe

In the woman's hand was a bouquet of flowers, but not just any flowers. Cherry blossoms, or as Luna knew them, Sakura Flowers. They were huge and gave off a captivating scent so sweet, almost like a Perfume in its own sense.

The woman smiled and beckoned her over, Luna moved closer

The woman plucked the largest flower out of the bunch, she set the bouquet down and clipped the Stem off and placed the flower gingerly in Luna's hair

Luna stepped back lightly touching the white flower, she bowed in thanks

"Thanks so much! It's wonderful!"

The woman gave a matter of fact look "I knew it would look good on you. Now go, sorry for keeping you"

Luna waved her hand and shook her head "No problem at all" she then turned away and made her way to the glass door and pushed it open, her first sight was Takashi's car parked on the curb

Aiyano was in the passenger seat and had rolled down the window "Luna! How are you?"

Luna Smiled "Im doing fine Aiyano, how about you?" she asked as she approached the side of the car

She was so happy to see Aiyano; they had been friends for years, so far back that Luna's fondest memory was playing with Aiyano. Aiyano was a strong, secure, young woman, she tended to have a very mischievous attitude, often attempting to fool others and get them into trouble just for her own amusement, thankfully most of the time it was harmless. Though Luna and there other friends would always say she acted just like the animal of her last name. Kitsune, yes, she was obsessed with foxes. She was very close to Luna's age, just a surprising 5 days off of Luna's, they celebrated birthday together because of it. She was Luna's height but had a very, very thin frame, and had long dark brown hair, often it was confused for Black. Luna would always be with Aiyano at school, if there ever was an absolute impossibly inseparable friend, Aiyano would be the one. Tonight she wore a black dress that was accented by gold. Around her neck was a pendant shaped in the form of a fox.

"What about me?" Takashi voiced his false displeasure from the driver's seat.

Luna smiled back "How are you Takashi? Bored of driving Aiyano around?"

He laughed and gestured mildly to Aiyano "She hasn't been too much trouble…..yet" he said narrowing his eyes

Takashi was a newer addition to the Luna's list of friends, he was a laidback, Patient and but sloppy and clumsy, but he was still a cool guy to hang around. Luna had met him several years back when Aiyano introduced them, Together Aiyano and Takashi made one heck of a pranking team, that is when they get along. Luna swore they butt heads more that rams

Aiyano pouted and cut them off before Luna could say anything back.

"AS Luna was saying…." She said giving a glare at Takashi and then turned back to Luna

"Yes Luna I am doing great, Im really excited for this party, I can't believe that Ichirou would have thrown such a large one for his birthday!"

Takashi took his hint to keep quiet

"Yea There is supposed to be almost one hundred people there, I can't believe that ichirou would invite us, considering how we have never met in person. I mean he is very popular and probably has plenty of other people to invite…." Luna said with an unsure expression

Aiyano waved her hand with an unimpressed Look about her "Yea he invited 100 people that he likes, don't know why he invited us, but I guess he ran out of friends, But even still I've been to parties that were WAY better than this one, but you know, let's give it a go, see how things turn out"

Takashi spoke up with an annoyed tone, Takashi's famous coarseness with Aiyano flared up "So are we going to go then? Or are we going to sit here all day and Talk about nonsense" he said, still a little sour from Aiyano berating him

Luna and Aiyano both stuck out their tongues at the same time, Takashi grimaced

Aiyano opened the door of the car and flipped up the seat, Luna then sat down in the back, and Aiyano did so as well, so she could speak face to face with her old friend

"Anything else before we take off?" Takashi asked as he turned around to Luna

Luna shook her head, her red hair waving with the motion

Takashi gave a half smile and put the car into gear

Luna and Aiyano spent most of the time spouting back and forth nonsense, well it was nonsense to Takashi, he was just trying to concentrate on the road ahead of him and not what the two girls where talking about.

He shook his head, girls could talk forever!

While Takashi zoned out; Luna was presented with a recurring and rather annoying question

"Luna, Tonight a lot of guys are gonna be at the party, anyone that you have in mind?" Aiyano asked fluttering her Eyebrows, her blue eyes narrowed

Luna shook her head and sighed exasperatedly "Aiyano this question is getting old; it's bad enough that you ask me so much at school, why do you keep at it?"

Aiyano shrugged sheepishly "Sorry Luna, I just thought….you know….it's something that we could share, I mean, you already know who I like" Aiyano said blushing a crimson red as she looked away

Luna had to stifle a laugh "Yea Aiyano, I know he likes you too, why not just confront him finally?" She said snickering at her friend's Flustered attitude

Aiyano blushed an even darker shade of red if it was possible "Oh! No, no, no, no! I-it's supposed to be the guy who asks out the girl right? Right?" She asked as her speech began to break up

Luna Giggled "Not always Aiyano, the girl can ask the guy out sometimes….I think…." She said with a pondering expression

Aiyano shrugged her shoulders weakly "If you say so…."

Luna placed a caring hand on her shoulder "you'll be fine Aiyano just…" Luna was cut off by Takashi

"Hey guys we are here! I told you it wasn't too far from Luna's!" He said as he parked out front of a massive house, the curbs adjacent to it were packed full with cars of all shapes and sizes from the other party guests. The House itself was lit up like the American city of New York during The New Year

Aiyano blinked quickly "Well then…..I suppose you weren't kidding Takashi when you said it was just 7 minutes from Luna's Apartment"

Luna in the meantime was struggling with the seat, her tongue sticking halfway out of the side of her mouth

"Man Takashi why don't you clean your car more!" She exclaimed when the Seatbelt clasp finally gave way

He shrugged and gave a goofy grin, earning a twitch of an eyebrow from Luna as she closed her eyes in anger

Aiyano patted her back "now, now Luna let's just go enjoy the party"

She turned to her and sighed "Fine" she said simply as she struggled to get out of the small car. As soon as Luna got out, Aiyano followed suit, eager to get out of such a cramped space

They started to walk to the House with just a few sounds of the girl's heels and the slamming of car doors from other party goers

When Luna finally got up close to the house her jaw dropped slightly, her Sea foam green eyes wide with amazement, The Music wasn't too loud but you could still hear a muffled bass beat from outside, Even still, she was kinda surprised that no one had called the Police yet. The house wasn't that much of a mess surprisingly, Luna thought as she approached it. A few people that she recognized from her school were outside the door, drinking and talking.

"Oh hey Luna! Aiyano! What's up?" A young man said with a grin and a hand in his pocket, Aiyano's Eyes brightened up at the sight of the young man whom was clad in the school uniform of navy blue shirt and matching pants, he most likely just got done with night school.

Luna waved to him, Aiyano walked over to him; Luna spotted her in her peripheral vision

Luna rolled her eyes; she turned around preparing to say something to Takashi, when she did, she blinked. He wasn't behind her anymore.

She narrowed her eyes and her gaze drifted left, sure enough Takashi was next to one of his buddies, No surprise there

Luna inhaled and chuckled she walked to the door, if her friends were going to have fun, so was she.

She stepped up the stairs and grasped the doorknob

As soon as she opened the door she felt the blast of the bass from the speakers, her whole face expressed nothing but pure awe

For a party things were quite clean, the drinks were not spilled, the chips were not scattered all over the floor, she stepped in further, passing a few chatting teenagers, she brushed some of her silky red hair behind her ear, she was a bit nervous with all the prying eyes, most of them belonging to males. She strode over to the stairs which were right near her, she stepped up to the second floor; it looked out over the main room

When she reached the top she looked out to the foyer, she was struck with surprise, Aiyano was right, this was a big party

Easily 30 kids were in this room alone, either on the couches or dancing on the large wooden floor, a Disk jockey was playing next to the large T.V. He was flanked by two huge speakers, both were literally shaking, Luna winced at the overly loud music, it made her ears numb, as she placed her fingers into her ears, Ahh…much better

She gasped lightly when she heard her favorite song, she quickly removed her fingers from her ears and turned back to the stairs, and she hurried down them and walked to the Foyer, now was her time to dance!

Even before she pushed her way through the crowd she was already beginning to sway to the song

She grinned from ear to ear; this was her kind of party! And that was all it took, a bit of adrenaline rush and the sounds of a party were the requirements to make Luna a very confident female, watch out gentlemen, Heartbreaker on the floor

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone approaching her; she swiftly turns around to face the person

A young man jumped back from her quick movement, he chuckled nervously

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms "Yes?" she asked as she sized him up

He folded his hands as they began to sweat "Well, I've seen ya around school and I thought m-maybe you would like to dance?" he asked as he cleared his throat afterwards

Luna, feeling devilish, nodded her head with a smirk, He seemed nice enough and she needed a dance partner, nothing more. The young man brightened up

She raised a finger "Ah, ah, only if you think you can keep up!" She said with a toothy grin

He chuckled, feeling a bit more comfortable; "well I'll try"

He took her hand in his, and carefully placed his other hand above her hip

The music rose in tempo, as she stepped he did the equal and opposite, he swayed side to side with ease, Luna was decently surprised. About half way through the song she pulled away from him, he gave a questioning look; he seemed to actually enjoy her in his arms

She only smiled and began to dance on her own, each of her movements swinging with the song, she was just so….Brave, she danced like no one was watching and didn't care about the stares she was getting, how could she do it? He would be shaking in his boots by now dancing alone in front of all these people! When the song finally finished so did she. He stood in awe

She walked toward him in his stupefied state, and trailed her finger under his chin

"That is how you dance" She said with a voice like silk and walked to the glass doors that led outside, wanting to get a little fresh air. She stopped at the door and looked back at him one last time before leaving

-787-

Aiyano finally pushed her way through to the door, that guy was a jerk! She huffed in anger; he was nothing but a lecherous pervert!

As soon as she scrambled through the door she scanned back and forth for her friend, she grimaced, how was she going to find her friend now with all these people?

She moved up a bit away from the door, she stopped to ponder quickly where she may be. Just then a song reaches its way to her ears

Luna's favorite song

She immediately turns to the Foyer, the source of the music, and walks into it; sure enough within the crowd she can see Luna dancing with another guy, near the center of the mass of teens

She laughs

"And Luna says she doesn't like anyone!" She giggled

She watched, admiring both of their Dancing skills, she crosses her arms smirking; a slight feeling of pride that her friend actually had some interaction with a guy for once

It seemingly ended just as soon as it started for Aiyano; she only got to see her friend with a guy for a few seconds.

"Aw man! It was just getting good!" she thought forlornly

But she perked up "Even If I can't watch anymore, I can still call Luna to the carpet!" She turns her narrow gaze to the spot where Luna and the young man were in the center of the group. She gasps shortly, she's gone! Aiyano steps down to the foyer, looking around for her Red and white clad friend, But sees her nowhere on the dance floor, To her right though a blotch of red an d white appears in the corner of her eye, She looks over and sure enough Luna is Outside in the zen garden. Gazing up at the moon. Aiyano sighs with a smile and walks to join her friend

-787-

Luna let the wind wash over her as she leaned on the railing of the porch, she looked out over the massive Zen garden, and the Full moon was like a diamond in the sky, illuminating everything in a ghostly white glow, as the wind rolled through the almost silent area of the house Luna smiled, everything was…just…. awesome, That boy she danced with was funny, a bit too shy but she liked him, Her heart was still racing from how close they were to each other. She never interacted with guys, Not just because her school separated the two genders, but because she never really wanted anything to do with them, but tonight…..she just felt…alive. Her ears perked when she heard the sliding doors from the house open, she turned her head to see Aiyano, a goofy but smug grin on her face

"Oh hey Aiyano! You enjoying the party?" Luna said as she stood up from leaning on the railing, Aiyano walked toward her steadily

"Oh Im liking it so far, just that guy I was talking to was a total jerk….." she said with a growl and shut her eyes tight, her hands balled into fists. Her eyes opened again but with mischief this time "But I know someone who found a guy that wasn't a jerk"

Luna looked confused, who was she talking about? She looked back to Aiyano and noticed who she was staring at….her, she blushed profusely

"Him? Y-yea he was cool and good dancer that's for sure" She said as she went back to leaning on the rail, not able to bear looking her friend in the eyes anymore

Aiyano giggled, liking the reaction she was earning from Luna "You sure that was it? I don't recall anyone dancing like that with someone who they thought was just 'cool'" Luna grumbled and turned away, her face turning a reddish tint. Aiyano turned her head to the sound of the sliding doors opening; she gave a small smirk when she recognized the boy right away

Luna looked over her shoulder lamely, not really concerned with the intruding clamor, her mind jolted when she noticed it was the boy who she danced with. She didn't look at him right away

He walked up and bowed to Aiyano courteously

"Why hello, are you her friend?" He asked Aiyano as he looked toward Luna, Aiyano was just about to speak but Luna spoke for her; she sat upright and turned to the both of them

"Yes she is, her name is Aiyano"

Aiyano closed her lips, no need for her own introduction now she thought with narrowed eyes

He cleared his throat "Well it's nice to meet you" He then turned to Luna

"You are an amazing dancer, I-I never caught your name?" He asked her

Luna smirked at the compliment "You were pretty good yourself, my name is Luna, yours?"

A noticeable amount of tension fell off his shoulders "Oh that's a beautiful name, my name is Ichirou"

Aiyano's eyes widened and she stared at Luna with a devilish grin

Luna looked confused "Wait….you're Ichirou? Isn't this your party?" She asked while pointing a finger at him

He nodded with his hand behind his back in a proper manner, he stood up straight; Feeling a bit prideful that they knew his name

Luna's jaw hung open slightly, a bit puzzled and conflicted that she just danced with the richest and most popular boy in school, even if she never got to see him. Their school separated boys from girls and the only time the Boy and girls could see each other was the very beginning of school and the very end, lunch was another time but Luna always went with Aiyano and Takashi to go eat lunch off campus.

"Anyways I would like you to know that you are welcome to my parties any time at all" he said with a smile, a nervous one, but none the less

Luna bowed, as it is courteous "Thanks Ichirou, I'll have to take you up on that offer" she said with a bright smile

He beamed "Well you see, at school I don't have many true friends, this party in a sense was to try and meet some people and possibly make friends" he sighed and continued

"It is bittersweet to know that you Luna are the only one that has been truly nice" He said with a half-smile

Luna's could only express disbelief, how could he not find any friends?

"You don't have many friends Ichirou?" Luna asked with a look of skepticism

He shook his head with a frown "I'm Afraid not Luna, though I have many admirers that are all they are. But I am glad that I am able to call you a friend'

Luna was going to continue if she wasn't so flustered at his comment, she felt so odd to be considered the friend of someone she had just met, she didn't know, but she was happy to be called a friend

Ichirou went to speak yet again but he was interrupted

They all turned to the sound of the door sliding open once again; it interrupted Luna's thought process. A young man poked his head out the door, and the music blared through.

"Yo ichirou! Come on and join us! They are just about to start the contest!" he said as he slid the door closed, the music muffled yet again from behind the thick glass

Ichirou turned to the girls with a sigh, obviously not wanting to leave "Well ladies, thanks for your time, I'll see you later" he said as he walked to and then through the door.

Once she was sure he wasn't looking, Luna Exhaled sharply, she let herself collapse and supported herself with the railing of the Stone garden. She turned once again to the Moon's captivating embrace as she attempted to stabilize her emotions

"Geez Luna, Sorry I didn't even recognize ichirou with him all dressed up! His Hair is even cut all short! He never cuts it short!" Aiyano exclaimed to her, She felt a bit stupid to have not noticed sooner

Luna's eyebrow twitched with mock anger "Yea Aiyano it would've been nice to know, considering if word got out every girl in the high school with be at my throat!" The sad part was she wasn't exaggerating

Aiyano shrugged her shoulders and gave out a soft unsure chuckle

Luna's deep green eyes still focused out at the moon, Trying to drown out all the commotion in her head. Aiyano sighed not sure why she kept returning to look at the moon.

Aiyano leaned on the railing with Luna, as they say if you cant beat them, join both gazed at the Full moon, its beams now only hindered by the slender but long silver cirrus clouds. Both Luna and Aiyano were taken in by its beauty.

"Wow…its beautiful…..isn't it?" Aiyano said she brushed her dark brown hair out of her face and looked over to Luna; Waiting for her response

"Yea….I Love the moon…..I just…..I don't know why…I guess it was from my Childhood, my dad would take me out on to our garden back at my old house and we would star gaze, Sometimes we couldn't even see some of the constellations from all the lights in the city…..but dad would always say 'Don't worry, at least the moon is still with us' im guessing Grandpa must have done the same thing with dad when he was young, because he loves the moon too…" Luna chuckled at the last part

"I guess that's why my name is Luna" She added with a mildly amused tone

Aiyano nodded, listening to every word, Luna didn't talk much about her parents, All that Aiyano knew about them was that they were…..A: Rich….B: They were crazy protective of their only child and C: Luna has never been out on her own so when her parents finally let her live on her own (under their ever watchful eye of course) She went nuts and went to every party and gathering in sight

Luna was so captivated that she didn't notice that the clouds were slowly rolling out of the way of the moon.

She finally was shaken out of her daze when her muscles began to tense and her senses became very alert, Luna gasped

'Oh no not now please!' She thought to herself, now was one of the worst times for this to happen, she knew she needed to get this under control now!

She stood up quickly, her neck a little sore from leaning over so much

"I'll be right back Aiyano!" she said with a hurried pace as she ran to the door, her mind swimming with all manner of anger, worry and concern

"What? Wait! Where you going?" Aiyano said turning to her quickly, her hair sliding from the jolt of moment and covered her face

"I forgot my phone!" Luna said quickly as she shut the door behind herself, leaving her friend perplexed

Aiyano fixed her hair with a scoff "Luna….why are you so weird sometimes?" she said placing a hand on her hip and rolling her deep blue eyes

Luna pushed through the crowd, her stomach aching and her heart beating at record speeds, she was breaking out in a cold sweat, she knew all too well what would follow if she couldn't get it under control. First the tension came, then the awful sickening feeling, why now of all places?

Luna passed through the foyer as quickly as she could, she hurried down a white carpeted hall, it was rather large and had many doors on either side, she looked for a bathroom or someplace where no one could barge in on her.

She found one door slightly ajar, she quickly swung it open and backed into the room while closing the door, making sure no one was following her, one was watching from a distance. She turned around to see she was in a small bedroom, most likely a guest room. Its wasn't anything special aside from having pure white linens, in fact it reminded her a lot of her apartment in size, but heck, her apartment was bigger than this room and that's saying something.

She looked around making sure the room had no one in it, but she was sure that it was vacant.

She sat down on the bed taking a deep breath and closed her eyes, the heat slowly started to go away and her muscles relaxed, she slowly opened her eyes, she brought her hand to her face to try and rub away some of the aching in her head.

She stopped, her eyes widened, she removed her hand from her face…..

Her hands…..they had…_claws _

She quickly grasped her clawed hand in her other hand and hugged them close to her chest, straining as she attempted to reverse the transformation

She just hoped that no one saw her like this; if she was discovered it would be _disastrous_

She let out a huge sigh and fell back on the very comfortable bed; she curled up on it, feeling a bit insecure and drained from that 'heart attack' moment

Her mind moved so fast she could barely keep up with herself, if her claws had shown and she didn't know…What else could have been shown? Was she starting to grow fur in the middle of the crowd? Did they notice? She didn't feel any fur piercing her skin, or noticed people staring…. but that still doesn't mean that no one saw…..maybe it would be safe just to leave the party now. She was just about to leave when a noise reached her ears

She jumped up with a stiff gasp, the doorknob started to turn…..

"Oh no…."


	2. Chapter 2

Mythology: Night's Bane

Chapter 2: Chaos in the Night

-787-

_Her mind moved so fast she could barely keep up with herself, if her claws had shown and she didn't know…What else could have been shown? Was she starting to grow fur in the middle of the crowd? Did they notice? She didn't feel any fur piercing her skin, or noticed people staring…. but that still doesn't mean that no one saw…..maybe it would be safe just to leave the party now_

_She jumped up with a stiffened gasp, the doorknob started to turn….._

_Oh no…._

Who was it? Was it someone that saw her transforming? Could it be that someone finally found out about her being…..being the _creature_ she really was?

In the split few seconds that the pale white door creaked open, Luna's whole effort to not be discovered flashed before her, her father's Tired and tried effort to protect what was most valuable to him. Now Luna may very well ruin all that her father has done to try and protect her.

Luna would never be able to deal with the consequences of her secret being revealed…..

If that were to happen….Who knows what would become of her? It was easily her worst nightmare…

-787- (Many years prior, Luna's strained flashback)

"Luna! Luna gets back here this instant!" Her father called out to the young 11 year old Luna who giggled as she darted down the stairs of her house, aiming to go to Garden in the back yard

The massive villa sat atop a hill of great size. Its Pearly white walls that surrounded a large perimeter seemed to cast a holy light onto the grass that surrounded it. The villa inside was, if it was possible, even more of a beauty, the blend of adobe, bricks, modern style, sharp edges and floral accents would put most architects into a fit wondering how such structural integrity and Art could be blended so effortlessly. Mister Tierra would know, he was one of the best. The three thousand square meter villa was one of the most spectacular privately owned homes in Japan, No doubt. Only the houses of the great Japanese royals had a greater appeal and even then, where they any good structurally?

A man stepped past the hallways edge, looking around for the young girl that passed through the same hallway not even a few seconds prior

The Middle aged was tall at about 178 cm, and was very muscular, his eyes shown much intellect and wisdom far beyond his years. The man sighed, his hands on his hips at the top of the stairs, watching as his child bound outside with energy that he could never keep up with. She passed through the massive glass sliding door that gave a breath taking view into a garden that was stunning, the one that he had designed to give him that wonderful feeling of nostalgia every time he walked through it. He spent years trying to design its layout, Down to each plant's exact orientation, the garden itself was more of a tiny forest, nearly double the Square meters that the house was. Which was already large in itself.

The man stepped down the stairs, Knowing full and well that Luna would be okay, but….that lingering parental paranoia that told almost every sane parent on the planet that no matter what their child could be in danger from anything, anywhere, anytime. This terrible anxious thought was on overdrive in his mind, constantly repeating, never ceasing. He stepped out into the garden through the massive glass door that he had to order especially for this house, He chuckled at all the hardship it gave him because of it unusual dimensions.

His eyes leveled with the garden as he stepped out onto the porch, the porch was made of the finest wood in japan and gave a captivating scent every time the family stepped outside. The porch sat a good 10 meters above the ground of the garden, As Mister Tierra always like to look out above his little private forest, The Japanese maple trees extended high in the sky, he took notice of them as she scanned his eyes across the top of the private forest. Looking for his daughter

"Luna! Be careful please! Do not leave the compound!" he shouted, hoping that she heard him

Out of Brush he heard her reply with exasperation

"Okay….Yes sir!"

He ran a hand through his aging black and grey hair, he came to realize that he was stifling his precious daughter by not letting her explore….but even still he would not let her leave the compound. His Private forest was Large enough for her to explore, what with the plethora of trees, a waterfall and flowers with such sweet aroma it put perfume to shame. In Spain he would always go into the Forest and enjoy the scenery and look at the beauty that was all around him, when night would descend upon the landscape he would then gaze up to the wonderful night sky. Here he could relive that same feeling but in his own back yard, a childhood of memories….just a few steps away.

He Sighed and straightened his Button up shirt, it was chafing his neck. He sat down in a chair, and listened out intently for any sign of distress from the "princess" of the Tierra Family

He chuckled at that thought; it made tears well up in his eyes to think of her.

Yes….his little princess

-787-

Luna snickered with childish innocence from behind the brush of a tree; her father was never going to find her here!

She pulled back the leaves of a bush and glared out of the small opening she created, looking for her father's exact location

She spotted his blue shirt which clashed with the white granite and marble sides of the house, he was sitting down on the patio, and it looked like he was looking for her too, but just wasn't so worried like he normally was.

The Young girl withdrew from her spot in the brush; if he wasn't going to follow her then she was going to make the most of it. She ran to the waterfall in the center of the garden, her small shoes making a rhythmic noise upon the cobblestone walkway, she ran around the second corner and slowed down and smiled. The peak of the waterfall was just ahead of her, a grassy plain surrounded the river that flowed through the private forest, the large pool of water below it cast a beautiful gleam of light from the full moon. Luna stepped forward at a relaxed pace, she clambered up on a large stone that sat just a few feet from the drop of the waterfall. She leaned back placing her dainty hands behind her head; gaze up at the lunar jewel of the night sky. Her father would always bring her here. It was one of her fondest memories.

Her eyebrows fluttered, her mind adrift in ocean of thoughts, she nearly fell right asleep then and there….

If it were not for a sudden sensation that is…..

Her pupils narrowed, her sight suddenly became extremely reactive, She didn't notice it at first, her eyes still trained on the moon, But the more she stared the more her pupils changed, The heavenly glow of the moon became more and more unbearable, She winced and looked away, starting to become confused

She found that her nose had become startlingly perceptive; she got a sudden blow to her senses that made her recoil and nearly fall off the rock that she sat upon.

A familiar scent hit her nose, her father's cologne, the smell of the water by the creek, the sweet smell of the cherry blossoms, the unpleasant odor of the fallen leaves decaying. All of this affronted her senses at one time, it was simply too much for her to process, she cupped her hands tightly around her nose, attempting to prevent anything more from causing her dismay.

She jumped yet again from a painful shock to her eardrums, the calm sounds of the creek exploded into thunder that clashed up against her very skull. The wind became akin to the sound of a typhoon. She curled up into a ball near the rock that she used to sit on. The Noises….the scents….the movement it all banged up against her mind like a curse.

Then just when she believed it couldn't get any worse, a pain pricked up all over her body, almost like little needles jabbing into her with the force of bullets, her gums stretched as larger teeth took shape, it felt like her gums were about to rip wide open.

She shuddered and shook as she became very cold, the pain nearly knocking her out. She looked down at her hands, she shrieked in horror, her five human fingers did not appear to her, instead a clawed paw came into her vision.

Her ear drums neared bursting point when her father called out for her, It seemed like her was shouting into a megaphone right next to her bare inner ear.

She writhed in pain and attempted to get to her feet, she didn't know what would become of her, but she would not let her father see her like this. She attempted to stand up on two legs but her knees cracked and broke under the strain, she paled, her mind not yet caught up with the concept as her Knees _reversed_ in direction and her ankles shifted to a 60 degree position, a dogs hind legs came to mind. Her skin felt like it was covered in molten lava now as _Fur _began to sprout from her colored skin.

She heard her father's footsteps nearing, the sounds like drums being slammed.

She tried once more to get to her feet, this time she did but she immediately fell back down on her stomach

She whimpered and tried to crawl away. She was scared, scared that her father would see her like this…..whatever she was. Even if she did bring herself to see him, there would be no way she could talk to him….she just needed to find a nice place to lie down.

The pain now slowly began to subside, she opened her eyes, a large dark red blotch clouded the lower part of her vision, she tried to push it away, but found two things when she attempted to do so.

One that dark red thing….was connected to her…..and two her hands were now _paws_

She yipped in surprise and found that the red thing was her elongated nose.

She could barely even speak…her mind unable to process what was going on…she felt like screaming, calling out to the heavens in agony…like running back to mom and crying her eyes out in confusion, But she couldn't….

She stood up on wobbly paws; her heart beat against her chest giving her an uncomfortable stuffy feeling in her lungs. Her mind put two and two together,

First. She was a lot smaller now…and two she had Fur, claws, and a large elongated nose. The first thing that hit her mind was that she was a monster but she refused to believe that, there was no way, she was a little girl! She was a child not some freak! But….but what was she? The poor tortures girl got to her four new paws and clumsily made her way to the stream, she couldn't get up on two feet.

She peered into the clear water; part of her not wanting to see what would stare back.

Her shoulders shook, and her eyes watered.

Her face did not look back at her

But the face of a wolf's

-787-

She flashed back, the door swung open and she cringed, excepting prying eyes and words of anger and hate.

Instead a concerned and confused voice came to her ears

"Oi, Luna what are you doing?" The familiar voice of Takashi rang in her ears

Words could not ultimately describe the feeling of both relief and annoyance she felt at the same moment

She sighed and slowly turned her head to Takashi with a slightly annoyed look

He stepped back with a scoff "What my bad, I saw ya run in here and wanted to make sure you were okay…" he said trailing off

Luna rolled her eyes and sat up from the bed "Thanks Takashi, but I'm fine" she said with a bit of disdain

He grimaced "Sorry. Didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable" he said with an unsure expression as he started walking away rubbing the back of his neck, grumbling on about "I'll never understand girls…"

Once he reached the end of the hallway and turned away out of her sight she fell back against the wall. Worry flooded out of her body, what a scare…

She was kind of aggravated that Takashi was following her, but then again if it was anyone else, or that if they had seen her change…well she was already sure of what would happen.

She sat up from her position against the wall and left cautiously out of the small bedroom, She started to walk to where she last saw Aiyano, now that she was fully aware that it was full moon, she could control the transformations better, but she had to leave the party and as soon as possible.

She reached the end of the hallway and noticed a distinctive lack of a large group of teens

She shrugged in her mind, most likely the younger kids that had an early curfew, after all most of the kids in the high school were of 9th and 10th grade

She walked along the edges of the dance floor and eventually reached the sliding glass doors, Aiyano was still outside, talking to another girl that was dressed in a deep blue full body dress, Gold stitching and silver lace was the first things she noted about it.

Very classy for someone of her age

Aiyano noticed Luna over the shoulder of the newer girl

"Oh hey Luna you're back!" she said in exclamation, the other girl turned around to see her

"Yea just got my phone and uh….well had to take a stop by the restroom, and who are you?" Luna said playing off her situation as nothing

The girl in the blue dress bowed politely "My name is Amaya, nice to meet you, you must be Luna then?"

Luna nodded and bowed courteously back to her, she was the daughter of someone rich that was for sure, best to respect her. "Yes I am, nice to meet you"

Aiyano smiled "Yea she is Ichirou's sister! You've seen her at school right?"

"Oh really? She is? That's pretty cool!" Luna said smiling back to them, now that Aiyano mentioned it she did see her at school once or twice.

"Yes its true, Ichirou and I are siblings, Oh! Speaking of which I needed to find him and let him know it's time for cake! Oh man I forgot! I'll see you guys in a bit!" Amaya had said as she bowed and quickly walked out of the garden to the sliding glass doors

"So what's really up Luna?" Aiyano questioned with a straight face and crossed arms

Luna backed up "what do you mean?"

She frowned and rolled her eyes "You know what I mean, you didn't have to go get your phone, I saw you grab it out of the car when we first got here! What did you really need to go do?" She said stepping closer to her questioned friend

Luna held up her hands in front of herself "nothing of importance I swear!" She lied through her teeth

Aiyano narrowed her dark blue eyes "Really are you sure? Because we are friends and I thought friends shared important things with each other, not keep secrets…" she said slyly heavily implying that Luna was keeping something from her

Which she was

Luna closed her eyes and sighed "Trust me Aiyano it really is nothing important…" she said with sincerity, it was important to Luna herself, but it shouldn't be important to anyone else.

Aiyano withdrew, seeing that her friend was being honest to some degree

She clicked her tongue and shrugged her shoulders "Alright then Luna, I'll leave ya be, but what is it that you needed?"

Luna thought for a moment, had she really forgotten?

She sat still for a moment searching in her mind for what she was going to say "um….oh yea! I'm really sorry but I need to head home" She said with an unsure smile hoping her friend wouldn't be angry

Aiyano sighed "Fine Luna, I'm glad you came though, it was fun while you were here, just be sure to be careful okay? Takashi will give you a ride home I'm sure, go ask him"

Luna nodded and slowly walked away "see you later Aiyano, don't party too hard okay?" Luna said with a snicker

Aiyano rolled her eyes in a lethargic circle "Oh cause' I'm really going to be partying it up like no tomorrow right?" she snipped with crossed arms

Luna laughed and slid the door open, she walked on through. Luna knew Takashi would be by the door hanging with the rest of the shy guys that didn't want to dance and just wanted to hang with their buddies

She passed the dance floor for hopefully the last time tonight, She left the giant living room and entered the foyer through a small hallway, sure enough a bunch of kids were relaxing and loitering around the kitchen, stairs and area around the doorway.

'Why bother coming to a party if all you're going to do is eat the food and waste time?' Luna thought with a sour expression as she passed multiple people with nothing but drinks in their hands and a few Guys shoving each other around like a wrestling match

Luna paid no attention and passed along without so much as a second glance. She needed to find Takashi now, and fast before her transformation would forcefully make its way to the surface again

She cringed visibly at that last thought, But then again if Takashi didn't take her home she could just walk home if worse came to worse.

She snorted 'Like I would walk that far in heels!' she thought with much amusement

-787-

"Enough man!" Takashi yelled at his friend, who for the 3rd time had spiked his drink with shots of vodka, the kitchen had been barren of any party goes other than a few people here and there to get a drink.

His friend looked at him with watered eyes "What's zit to ya man? I'm totally fine…" he said, barely managing to get it passed his lips

Takashi pinched the bridge of his nose "Oh man, you're are for once like the only guy here drinking alcohol, no one wants to be on bad terms with Ichirou's family! If you screw up this party you will be shunned in school for years!" He said with a hint of disgust

His friend snorted, actually breaking out of his semi drunk state

"Listen man, I have a right to drink alcohol." He said poking Takashi in his chest with his finger

Takashi rolled his eyes "Sure you do, and sense when has it been allowed for minors to drink?"

His buddy actually took a moment to think, Causing Takashi to chuckle in disbelief at the idiocy of his friends actions

"Um….sense….ah fine man ill stops…." He grumbled, he walked over to the sink and Dumps the vile liquid down the drain, he looks over to Takashi and gives a mock smile

"See ma, I'm not drinking anymore..." he joked

Takashi rubbed his forehead with a sigh "You are such an embarrassment man…"

His friend swung his hand, passing his words off as if they were dust in the air; he turned around and started pouring himself a soda, not spiked this time.

Takashi sat down on a barstool that was right next to the kitchens bar which wrapped around the actually kitchen island and Appliances, and was just about to ask for his friend to get him a drink when he noticed someone walk in the doorway

"Oh Takashi there you are!" Luna had said with the sound of relief as she walked in the room and sat down next to him

Takashi smiled at her "Yea I've been here the whole time, so what do you need?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

She sighed "man this party just isn't for me, can you drive me home?"

Takashi looked amused "What? You're like the only person ill know that will go to 3 parties a week and still have enough energy for school, why would you want to leave a party?" he said turning the barstool in her direction

She rubbed her arm with a sheepish grin "well I'm just not liking it so far…." She said looking away

Takashi didn't buy it "Luna. This is like one of the best parties I've ever been to, and I haven't even left the Kitchen for most of the time!" He leaned in close making sure his friend or the other people that had wandered in the room couldn't hear him, he placed one hand blocking the side of his mouth from the other people

"This isn't about earlier is it?" he said with narrowed eyes

"Yes! Oh well no….k-kinda…" She said without thinking it through, a sheepish and embarrised grin on her face

He gave questioning gaze, Luna really didn't like this

'I wish he would just stop prodding and just take me home already!' She screamed in her head

He lightened his expression and shrugged "Eh fine, just let me have on more drink and we can head out"

Luna smiled and gave his him a hug as he got up, catching him off guard

"Oh thanks so much Takashi! I really appreciate it"

He chuckled as he headed over to the soda and poured himself a glass "No problem, not like I'm partying hard or anything…"

His friend beside his laughed loudly, so loud that Takashi punched him in the shoulder in annoyance

"Shut up man! It's not like you have been livin' it up either!" Takashi accused with his finger pointed at him

His buddy's smile vanished after that comment; He rubbed his shoulder where Takashi hit him grumbling.

Luna giggled finding Takashi's reaction funny

"You want a glass?" Takashi asked over his shoulder

Luna nodded "yea sure"

Takashi grabbed another cup and poured it for her, he grabbed both his and Luna's and walked over to her

"Here ya go" he said placing it down in front of her gently

Luna bowed "Thank you"

Takashi set his down after taking a sip "Hang on I'm going to head to the restroom, I'll be back" He said turning to the doorway

Luna acknowledged him "Okay, I'll wait here"

Luna took a few sips of her drink and got bored really quickly, she sighed and set her drink down next to Takashi's and turned away to speak with the girls behind her, maybe striking up a conversation would cure her boredom

Takashi's 'friend' was still bitter from the crap Takashi gave him, he looked around to make sure no one was watching as he walked away from the sodas and Moved over to Takashi's drink cup, he took one last glance behind him and when the girl that was with Takashi finally started talking with the other Girls in the room he pulled out a silver flask, he unscrewed the top and thinking he was pouring it in Takashi's Cup, dumped all the vodka that was left in it, he quickly screwed the top back on a shoved the vile thing back in his pocket

"That'll teach Takashi to mess with me…freaking kill joy…" he grumbled as he left the room aiming to leave the party

-787-

Takashi turned the corner and entered the kitchen; he first noticed that Luna was in fact not where she said she would be

"Aw Luna…." He said with a groan

"I'm right here Dude!" he heard Luna's voice from behind him

He whipped around to see her leaning up against the doorway to the kitchen

"Oh come on, where were you?"

Luna rolled her eyes and entered the room and leaned up against the bar

"Dude chill I left the room for like 2 seconds I was just seeing off the girls I was talking too off, they had to leave" She said as she grabbed her drink

Takashi sighed "Oh well that's nice" he said obviously disinterested

He cracked his neck "okay you ready to go?" He asked her as he too grabbed his cup and downed the whole soda in about 3 seconds

"Ahh…that's good" he said with a smirk

Luna rolled her eyes "yea funny…" she said with annoyance, she tilted her head back and downed her whole drink too, but she stopped half way as her eyes widened and she spat the drink out, the drink burning her throat

"Ackkkk! What the heck!" She spat as she clutched her neck

Takashi gasped "Oh crap Luna, what's wrong!?" he asked as he bent down to her level with concern

She took a deep breath "Aw man my throat feels like its on fire!"

Takashi looked over to the fallen cup on the counter and grimaces, he swings around the counter and grabbed a few paper towels and quickly soaked up the spilt drink

He got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he noticed that the liquid had a strange color to it, he lifted the drenched towel to his nose and quickly took a whiff

"Augg…that is nasty! Its smells just like…" He caught himself from saying the last word. The Smell reminded him of his buddy, him and his drink of vodka.

Luna groaned and stood up she gazed over to Takashi with lazy eyes

Then that same felling came back to her, that tense prickly feeling she got when she was changing

She panicked; she must have ran out of time! Oh man and with Takashi here she was in a pickle for sure!

She sat up and took a deep breath trying to slow down the change

"Um Takashi, can we go home now?" She asked with pleading eyes

Takashi sighed "yes we can, sorry about that, my buddy must have spiked your drink…..aw man I'm so sorry Luna, he is such a jerk sometimes…" he said with a very sincere and sad look

Luna gasped "he SPIKED my drink! I drank like half the cup man!" She said as she put her hands over her stomach with a worried expression

He Sighed through grit teeth "um…you will be fine, just sleep it off! Let's get in the car and get you home" he said as he placed his hand behind her back and began walking her to the door in a hurried fashion

"Hey, hey, HEY watch the hand!" Luna said as she attempted to walk up to pace with Takashi

He slowed down "Oh sorry, just let's get you home before your body starts to digest that alcohol….just try not to do anything crazy if you start to feel a bit…woozy…okay?"

She nodded slowly with an unsure grin "O….kay?"

They just leave the kitchen when Luna is hit with a wave of pain, the transformation starting to take place.

She doubles over, the prickling feeling starting to get to her first

"Luna are you okay?!" Takashi asked with concern, he knelt down and began to pull her up

She swatted his hand away "NO! I'm fine, just get me outside…." She yelled, making Takashi feel a bit shunned

He was unsure of what to do, his hands held up in the air in front of him shaking

He looked down to Luna and he felt a lump in his throat

Something brown and spiky was sprouting from the exposed skin on her back and her arms

He gasped 'What the heck is going on?' he thought with confusion

"Oh my gosh what is happening to her?!" Takashi looked up to the source of the voice

He spotted a group of girls, one of them were squealing and pointing at Luna on the ground, she caught the attention of not only the girl's friends but a crowd began to watch and yell to each other

Takashi looked down once again to Luna, fearful of what he would find

He recoiled in shock and covered his eyes; she….she wasn't there anymore

A red furred creature was in the place of her, partially covered by her clothes, patches of exposed skin were left, but it had paws and fur and was slowly shrinking and taking the form of something

He peeked through parted eyes and found himself curious, but other people were not as kind

They began throwing things at Luna or the animal….or whatever!

A sizeable crowd had now formed and Takashi feared for her, whatever was happening he couldn't leave her hear alone!

He sprang into action and quickly scooped her up, swiftly dodging the Cans, cups and silverware thrown at him, he had to pass through the living room, the mob of kids were blocking the only way out from the kitchen to the door, he would have to go through the living room and to the front door

A lot of people were yelling at him as he passed by them at running speed, he even knocked a few people over

"Hey! What the heck?!"

"What is that?!"

"Stop right there bro!"

Were just a few of the calls after him as he ran past them, he reached the door and opened it, a few people from the mod that had seen Luna….um….change were running after him, but Takashi didn't care, he ran as fast as he could, digging in his pocket awkwardly for his keys to his car, he quickly unlocked it with the remote control and open the driver door, he let Luna…or the animal down in his lap and quickly turned the key and Fired up the engine, people we just about to open his doors when he backed up and drove away from the curb, squealing his tires as he left, the people behind him coughing on exhaust fumes and dust

He sighed and his shoulders sunk

"Oh man….what have I gotten myself into…" he looked down to his lap with a raised eyebrow

"And what the heck have you gotten _yourself_ into Luna?" Now that he could get a good look, she looked a lot like the red wolves from Europe that he studied in biology, but why would she change into one? What the heck is up with that? Last he check people didn't exactly just up and change into a pack based, meat eating, and clawed eviscerating canine.

He was stopped by a red light and he ran a hand through his hair, as he waited for the light to change color, he picked up the wolf, who was quite light he might add, and set her in the back seat. She let out a pained whimper and her ears twitched from the movement of her position.

He let out another exhausted sigh and laid back in his seat as the light changed color yet again, he pressed the gas pedal, as he checked the side streets and turns he could make, he thought of where exactly he should be going

'I mean, I can't go back to my house, if Aiyano got whiff of this at the party she would hunt me down like a helpless doe' he sighed, his hopes draining ever so slowly with each passing minute

He sat back, almost not even paying attention to the road

'Man, I guess I could just take Luna to her house… but how will I get her past anyone that stops me, "oh yea I'm just carry a dangerous European wolf that has be extinct for decades in japan just the for the heck of it"' He pounded his fist against the Steering wheel, what did he get himself into?

His ears picked up a slight noise from the back seat, Could Luna be awake?

He pursed his lips, not wanting to take his eyes off the road, maybe he could stop somewhere?

Yea the park is nearby; no one is there at night because it's closed. He could just park in one of the parking spaces and sort this issue out…..eh that is if Luna wakes up.

He turned to the right as soon as he needed and drove up one of the many side streets that encompassed Tokyo. The park was only a few minutes away now

Luna, Aiyano and Himself would always go there; he knew the roads there like the back of his hand by now.

Once he reached the last Stoplight to the park he looked to the back seat, maybe Luna was awake and just had been quiet?

He shifted his position and draped his arm over the head rest trying to get a good look without hurting his neck

Luna….well… the wolf Luna. Was Sleeping very restlessly, it seem like she couldn't find a comfortable spot to lie on. He felt a pang of sympathy; she must be really upset by now, her dreams cursing her.

He turned back around just as the light turned green. A few thoughts began to brew in his head…

'I wonder…..was Luna always this….this wolf? I mean this is crazy just thinking about it….t-that a human is a wolf but….I mean it does kinda make sense she was different…but I wonder how she got this way. Was she born with it? Or did something happen at the party?' He scoffed as his last thought

'Yea Takashi some guy cast a freakin' spell on her and she changed into wolf' He thought with a smug look

But as he thought more about it, she _did _only change when she drank that crap that my buddy gave her….was that what caused it? I mean it was only vodka….so something must have triggered it….'

He threw his head back against the head rest with a long winded exhale

"Aw man this is so confusing!" he shouted with seething anger

Maybe it would have been better if he just left her to the Teens to do whatever they wanted with her…that way he could be free of this burden, how was he to explain this to his friends? And if this got out into the news oh good lord… that would be terrible, he couldn't show his face ever again! All just for helping a wolf! Er….Wolf girl!

His mind made a sudden realization…what would become of Luna?

I mean she wasn't a girl that was helping out a wolf like he was….

She was the _wolf _

A lot of kids seen her change…some he had seen her hang out with at school

'Aw man….Luna….' he thought with a great pain of despair and sympathy

Takashi felt like such a jerk thinking of himself before the girl whose life could be _ruined_ right about now….

He turning into the park, almost missing the turn because of his great amount of thinking, he slowly cruised up to the parking lot. He parked in a spot furthest away from the road, it was shrouded by draping trees and shadows cast by larger flora, He was sure that none would be able to see him unless they were trying to look for him

He leaned back in his chair with an exhale and just let his arms go limp, he was about to adjust his seat backwards…

But a growl….. came resonating from behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Mythology: Night's Bane

Chapter 3: The invitation

-787-

'_Aw man….Luna….' Takashi thought with a great pain of despair and sympathy _

_Takashi felt like such a jerk thinking of himself before the girl whose life could be ruined right about now…._

_He turning into the park, almost missing the turn because of his great amount of thinking_

_He parked in a spot furthest away from the road, it was shrouded by draping trees and shadows cast by larger flora _

_He leaned back in his chair with an exhale and just let his arms go limp, he was about to adjust his seat backwards….._

_But then….. A growl came resonating from behind._

A chill rose up the back of Takashi's spine, his eyes widened and back stiffened, and He slowly held his hands up in an attempt to not look threatening….

He scoffed to himself after this, after all this is Luna he was dealing with not some wild wolf…

Right?

Takashi exhaled slowly and turned around; Sure enough the wolf was awake and not happy at all

She was baring her teeth at Takashi; her incisors were intimidating enough to make his skin crawl.

"L-listen I helped you okay, I'm no threat" The wolf's pupils contracted into cat like slits, and Takashi chuckled nervously. Luna wasn't buying it.

"Easy! Easy! Please…I don't what to hurt you….Those kids they freaked out….I-I panicked and just grabbed you, I didn't know….I didn't know what they were going to do to you, I could have left you there" He relaxed a tiny bit, But another growl from Luna quickly fixed that

"Listen for what it is worth, I was worried at first that I would be in trouble for helping you….but after thinking about how bad this could end your life, how you could lose your friends. So I guess in a sense…I didn't want to be one of the friends you would lose….I couldn't leave you there…And much as you hate it or despise it….I guess I'm in this mess with you" He said with a small meaningful smile as he shrugged his shoulders

The wolf sat back on her haunches, still being investigative; making sure Takashi wasn't lying or being deceitful in anyway

'Well it does kinda explain why I am changed….and why I'm in the car with Takashi….' The wolf assumed, she couldn't really remember much, it was all a hazy fog after she met up with Takashi in the kitchen to leave….

"So uh….I'm out of ideas…I don't know where to go….can you uh….change back maybe?" Takashi asked as he lowered his arms, Luna didn't seem to distrust him anymore

The Wolf Looked at him for a moment, giving a final judgment on wither or not he could be trusted…even if Takashi was her friend, people were unpredictable. She decided that she could trust him…so far that is. She answered his question with a shake of her head

"Really? Why?" he asked with a puzzled expression

Luna narrowed her eyes, slightly annoyed at his assumption that she could somehow answer that question

"Oh uh….yea…can't speak…sorry…" he said with a humorless chuckle

He turned back to face the front, he laid back in his seat with a sigh

"So can you communicate at all with me? Or am I just kinda talking to a brick wall here"

He received a small nip on the shoulder

"OW hey! Stop that!" he cried as he grumbled and began to rub the affected limb

'Well you started it…' Luna thought staring into his eyes, at this point she hoped that he could hear her

"So uh…Where can I take you? My house?" He asked with a raised eyebrow

The wolf shook her head

"Uh….your parents?"

Another shake of the head

"What about your place?"

She looked to her right for a moment, thinking over the suggestion, she faced his and nodded to the best of her abilities

"Are you sure? I mean people have seen you like this….wont they look for you?" He asked, concern evident in his voice

The wolf nodded yet again, she was positive that she would be fine

Takashi lifted his arms in the air in defeat and placed them on the steering wheel with a thud

"Alright then…So your place it is then" He said as he started up the car

He looked behind himself to back up only to bonk heads with Luna as she was crawling up to the front

They both recoiled in pain, Luna placed her paws over her muzzle with a sad whine and Takashi rubbed his head and grumbled

"My bad…come on up if you want.." he said scooting over to allow her more room to walk over the center console

Luna got up and quickly sat in the passenger seat, her tail brushing his face, he spluttered as he wiped his face free of the fur

Luna made a sound similar to a laugh, Takashi gave an annoyed glare, he sighed and shifted his focus to driving

"Okay let's get going, this night has been more eventful than I would have liked…" He softly spoke, with a turn of key the car fired up with a shudder, he put the car into gear and looked to the rear of the car as he backed up.

_Woosh_

His eyes caught something, but it was so quick he could barely register it

Luna started growling, her hair raised

Takashi did a double take, checking every side of the car with nervous observation

"D-did you see that too?" he asked with a concerned expression

Luna nodded to the best of her animalistic abilities; something just passed by them that was for sure.

Takashi waited for a moment to see if whatever it was would show itself again, but after a minute Luna voiced her impatience with a sharp whine

Takashi waved his hand, knowing the reason why

"Fine…fine" he let his foot of the brake and the car started to back up yet again, he quickly drove to the exit of the park.

'I really don't want to sit here much longer than I have to' Luna thought, a constant antsy feeling in her body, it usually happened when she was a wolf, she can't stay in one spot for too long.

Takashi kept his eyes pasted to the road, trying not to let Luna's constant fidgeting bother his focus.

He cracked his knuckles, stress starting to seep it way into his head

"Listen Luna we are only like….4 minutes from your house, can you _please_ stop with the constant moving?"

He heard the wolf give a growl of displeasure; he chuckled with a bit of exasperation

"Ah darn it….sorry Luna I'm just….just trying to fit it all I'm my head…you being….not human….Eh he…sorry….ahem…. how we are going to see our friends again? I mean if they don't think the people that saw you are full of crap then we are in some seriously big trouble…we have nowhere to go…" he muttered with a solemn expression, his eyes glassed over as he was deep in thought, he was still able to drive, but his mind was clearly not on that.

He pulled up next to the curb of Luna's apartment, as soon as he finished he fell back into his chair with a heavy sigh

"Geez….I mean…here I am complaining….you should be the one to be sad…You _are_ the one who turned into a wolf; not me" he said with a anxious chuckle, his eyes starting to dull from exhaustion

Luna looked indifferent as her amber eyes bore into his own, she pawed forward and placed her muzzle on his arm, he flinched a bit at first but calmed down after she did too

He wondered if she did this for her own comfort or to comfort him, perhaps both.

After a while Takashi sighed and sat up, Luna did too and sat back into the passenger seat

"Okay so how will we uh….get into your apartment…you have a key?"

Luna nodded slowly

"Uh really? How the heck-no you know what I'm not even going to ask, so then how about the lady at the front desk? Will we be able to get past her?" He mentioned, he remembers the elderly lady at the front desk; she won't take too kindly to a young man she has never seen and a wolf trotting in her apartment complex at this time of night

Luna nodded and scratched at her door with a paw

Takashi tensed "Hey, hey! Ill open it for you chill don't scratch my car's interior!" he said as he opened his door and strode out, he held his hand out, motioning Luna to exit out of his doorway

Luna coyly stepped out of the door; she kept her eyes open and checked each direction, when she was sure no one was watching she ran down the alleyway at an impressive speed

"Hey wait!" Takashi cried, he dug into his pocket, he fumbled around for his car keys, he yanked them out of his pocket and he clicked the auto locker; he dashed clumsily after Luna

Luna whined by a door that linked to the apartment complex, she scratched the door with a paw, the metal making an audible echo down the narrow alleyway.

"Hey Luna keep it down! You don't want anyone to know we are here!" Takashi cautioned

Luna rolled her eyes, not concerned in the slightest, like some random citizen would just decide to walk down an alley way that has a metal drumming sound echoing from it.

Takashi gripped the doorknob and twisted it sluggishly "this door leads into the apartments?" The door rasped open with a groan, it obviously hadn't been used

Luna nodded in response to his inquiry

'Man my neck hurts…' she sniveled

She trotted in beside Takashi; the room was dusty and aged, much like a supply closet

"Man this place is really muggy, I can barely breathe" Takashi coughed

Luna rubbed her muzzle against his leg, trying to gain his attention

"Huh? Oh what do you need?" he said ready to assist her

She pushed her nose against a grating in the wall, light filtered through it

Takashi cracked his neck and got on one knee and pulled with all his might, the grating was in the wall tight, but he managed to free it, he fell back on his rear with a strained groan

"Aw man…Oh it's the hallway!" he exclaimed to Luna

The wolf chortled and ducked under the hole in the hallway and passed on through effortlessly

He exerted his strength and got up on his feet, he crawled through slowly as to not scrape his back

He passed through, he turned around and reached back into the hole, he grabbed the grating and pulled it back into its place

"There" he said simply as he dusted off his hands, he stood up and walked over to Luna, who was at the far end of the hallway making sure that no one was coming their way

"Okay Luna, where is your room?" He asked in a whisper

Luna hunched over sneakily and stepped silently down the hallway to the right, which in the center of said hallway, was an elevator along with several cola dispensers and a few plants to decorate the corners

She pressed the 'Call elevator button' with her nose and sat down afterwards, patiently waiting for the lift

Takashi strolled up beside her after checking the hallways to make sure no one left their rooms or turned onto the hallway

"Okay we are all good, no one has seen us" he said as he placed his hands in his pockets casually

His eyes wandered, Just trying to pass the time, he saw the soda machines, the Banzai trees placed in the corners, the paper walls and even the security camera hidden in the corner of the room

Wait…..security camera?! Just then the elevator arrived

"Oh crap Luna! The camera it's seen everything!" He said pointing shakily at the domed camera, not concerned anymore with the elevator

The wolf's ears stood up on end, Luna rapidly looked over at the object that Takashi was shouting about

When her eyes caught the sight of the object she laughed, well as close to a laugh as a wolf could produce from their vocal cords

"What? This is serious!" Takashi said without a sign of Calming down, the wolf only snickered even harder

Takashi was not amused in the slightest, his brows furrowed in confusion and anger

"What? Can you at least give me a hint as to what I'm missing here?" he assumed that Luna was writing this off as nothing

Luna sat up on her haunches and pointed her nose at the dome, then to one of the lights on the ceiling

Takashi's eyebrow twitched

"You mean it's a light?! Oh great…" he said with an anxious sigh

"Got myself worked up over nothing I guess...boy nothing like a night of adventure to make me lose my mind" he uttered with a gloomy tone of voice

Luna padded into the elevator, waiting for her human friend, she rolled her amber eyes

Takashi stepped onto the elevator with her, she got up and trotted over to the elevator buttons and mashed the 3rd floor

"Oh man what if someone is going to be waiting for the elevator when we get up there?" Takashi asked Luna with a sincere voice

Luna growled, his anxiety getting the best of not only himself, but not starting to make Luna upset

'Man, you need to chill out, we will be fine' Luna thought to herself, really wishing she could tell Takashi to calm down

"Hey I'm just concerned is all, I really don't need our lives messed up even more by some person blabbing to the news about how there was a wolf and a guy stalking in an apartment complex at the hour of 2 in the morning!" he said with a cross but meaningful face

The doors slid open, Takashi slowly stepped forward

He peeked to his left, and then to his right. No one was here

"Oh thank goodness" he said as he turned to Luna

"It's safe let's go" his gaze left Luna and he turned around to the front of the elevator.

His eyes locked with someone, He was sure his heart stopped right then and there

A person in an aged brown trench coat passed by, a hat sat atop his head, it too was brown like the Coat

The persons steely gaze drifted over to them as he passed by, the collar concealed most of his face, and only the top portion was visible

But what they both observed made both of them fill with fright

His eyes were not human, not in the slightest

His Blue eyes were dull, nothing special, but it was what was in the center that made their skin crawl

The pupil was nonexistent, a black vertical slit was in the place of his Pupil, it contracted as he observed them

He stopped in front of them just for a moment, Luna's muscles tensed, ready to fight she began to growl at him

Takashi was frozen, what sort of person was this? What would he do to them? His body would not move despite the adrenaline coursing through him at that moment

The man narrowed his eyes and continued on, not uttering a word or sound

They both heard the stairwell door close; he had left the floor and was now gone from their presence

At the same time Luna and Takashi exhaled with great force

"Oh man…." Takashi muttered, his hands on his knees as he slouched over

Luna ran out of the elevator, she did not want to stay out in the open any longer

Takashi stammered wanting to say something, but he settled for pursuing Luna

Luna ran up to her door, relief filtered through her body, she turned around, a plant sat up against the wall behind her, she stuck her nose in the soil and started to dig for something

Takashi spotted her and slowed down as he approached her

"Okay Luna, how are we going to get in?" Takashi asked as he bent down to the wolfs level as she continued to dig in the soil of the plant

He was confused by this obviously "Uh Luna…why are you doing that?"

She responded by lifting her head, a key card in her mouth, she gave the wolf equivalent of a smile and trotted over to the door

"Oh I see now..." Takashi said as he watched Luna attempt to open the door

She scratched and clawed at the door, attempting to get some sort of traction so that she could properly slide the card through the slot

She growled and kept trying, each time she was unsuccessful

"Luna…you uh need some help?" Takashi asked with a raised brow

The wolf ignored him and continued to try, on the last attempt she just about slid the card through the Slot, but it was to no avail

She sat down on her haunches and hunched over, she slowly turned to Takashi with pleading puppy dog eyes

Takashi smirked and laughed "Okay, okay I'll get it"

He grabbed the key card from her mouth and with a quick hand stroke unlocked and opened the door

Luna quickly pushed past him and ran into her house, Takashi shut the door behind him and locked it

He slowly stepped into the rather clean and fresh smelling apartment, The small hallway led to a Foyer/ dining room, to the right of that was a kitchen, to the left was another hallway; he examined his surroundings with intense curiosity, He heard a door shut but he quickly dismissed it as Luna entering one of her rooms.

He sprawled out on the Couch with a sigh of relief, he had gotten Luna home, his mission was complete...well the mission he had formulated in his own head

He sat up, when he did his eyes caught something, something peculiar on the glass coffee table in front of him

He picked it up gingerly in his hands

A Black envelope with a strange dark blue seal, he turned it over but no name was on it

He considered opening it but decided against it, he honestly felt like it wouldn't be appropriate to open it without Luna's permission. He laid back down on the couch, this time on his side. By now sleep was certainly the only thing on his mind. He closed his eyes, He could feel his mind begging him to drift away into blissful unconsciousness, he would have too if he did hear someone's footsteps

He looked up to see a rather timid girl whom he immediately recognized, who was actually human this time

She had on a simple yellow shirt and a pair of white shorts, she had one hand behind her back grasping her other arm, she wouldn't look at Takashi directly, a embarrassed blush was quite apparent on her cheeks

Takashi got up "Oh man Luna I am so glad to see you like…this…you know. Are you okay? I mean…you want to talk about anything?" He said, attempting to be a shoulder for her to cry on, he clearly knew she was upset

Luna Sighed, Ignoring his previous question, she felt guilty for bringing him into this. All kinds of emotions swam around in her sub conscious "Sorry for dragging you into this Takashi" She said glancing at him briefly with her sea foam colored eyes

Takashi sighed with a frown "Luna don't you worry about it, it was my choice and my choice alone."

Luna slowly stumbled over to the couch she sat down next to Takashi, still not willing to look at him

"Listen, everything will be fine, I'm sure they will all forge…" He wasn't able to finish, Luna raised her voice at him

"Forget….Do you understand what happened? I _changed_ right in front of them; I don't think they will forget that very soon! And the people that didn't see will no doubt spread it all over school!" she said with a rather loud tone , tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she stood up, teeth grit and her eyes boring into Takashi's

She stood there like that for a few moments, Takashi didn't reply at all. She needed to get this off of her chest.

The anger slowly draining from her, Luna sat down staring at the ground with a sorrowful expression

"I'm sorry Takashi it's just that…" Takashi cut her off this time

"No Luna, its fine it needed to be said….." he sighed and ran his hand through his hair

"You're right Luna…..what in God's name are we going to do? I mean you can't just erase that from people's memory" he said, anger pitching in his tone at the last few words

Luna looked at him, he looked back

"Well, At least I've got someone to go through it with" Takashi smiled lightly, his brown eyes dull from exhaustion

Luna smirked "I guess that is a good way of looking at it…"

They both jumped when a knock at the door rang loud

The two looked at each other, then to the door

Luna motioned for him to stay still

She walked over to the door just as another loud knocking occurred

Luna unlatched the door and opened it

"Luna!" Aiyano dove in through the door, giving her a big hug, she was caught off guard to say the least

"Aiyano? What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Luna asked, she peered past Aiyano to see if anyone else was with her

"Nope it's just me; one of the guys drove me here" Aiyano clarified, able to tell what she was looking for.

Luna smiled and closed the door and latched it back

"Okay then what's up?" Luna asked, crossing her arms

Before Aiyano answered she noticed Takashi sitting on the couch looking at the both of them

"Oh hi Takashi" She waved, He waved back

"What is he doing here?" Aiyano asked in a hushed tone, too low for Takashi to hear

"He drove me home, why do you ask?" Luna responded indifferently, Aiyano nodded

"Okay just wondering….But Luna….Some of the people at the party they…they were saying things about you two…" Aiyano took a deep breath and sat down at one of the bar stools in the kitchen, Takashi listened to the best of his abilities as the two girls talked. What an ironic moment, not even a few hours ago he despised the two of them when they talked on and on, now he was trying to listen.

"Like what?" Luna asked as she sat down next to Aiyano, She didn't like where this was going, Worst come to worst she would have to tell her friend about a the secret that she kept from her all the time they have known each other.

Aiyano smiled insincerely "well I uh….heard that something rather weird happened to you at the party…and Takashi took you…"

Luna's eyes widened "Well….yea something did happen, You need to be more specific Aiyano you are acting all cryptic, Come one we are all friends here"

Aiyano frowned "Fine Luna, They are going around saying things like you aren't human and bull like that, Its making me mad and I came here to tell you so they won't tarnish your reputation, we need to put a stop to this, Honestly where do they come up with these stupid lies…" She said venting

Luna couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't take the lies anymore, her friend was going to find out and she didn't want to keep it from her anymore

"They are right Aiyano"

Luna could have sworn she heard aiyano's heart skip a beat, Aiyano stopped in place and blinked in disbelief.

"What….What do you mean?" Aiyano said with a laugh, thinking it was all a joke

Luna sighed painfully "It true Aiyano….I'm not human…"

Aiyano blinked and stammered "W-what? Then what are you?

Luna sighed "I'm not really sure….all I know is that I'm very different, and that I change into something…a wolf…and that….is the real me, I'm…a monster…"

Luna fully expected either Takashi or Aiyano to leave, not willing to accept that their friend is a freak…

Quite frankly she couldn't blame them

This is why Luna was very surprised when she felt warmth around her

Luna opened her eyes slowly, Aiyano was hugging her tightly, Luna's eyes fluttered, confused

"Luna don't you ever say that you are a monster, you have been my friend for as long as I can remember, and you will always be that to me" Aiyano said, her voice muffled from her face being on Luna's shoulder

Takashi stepped up "Yea Luna, If I thought you were a monster I would have never have gotten you out of there, but guess what, You have helped me plenty of times and frankly I can't live without you two anymore" The young man stood up a look of great seriousness

Luna looked back and forth between her two friends

She smiled genuinely "Thanks guys…I…I really don't know what to say…"

"No problem" Takashi said simply

"Hey what's family for?" Aiyano said letting go of her best friend, her warm smile made Luna feel much better

Luna sighed contently and walked over and sat down on the couch, Takashi and Aiyano followed suit, Aiyano sat next to Luna and Takashi sat on the chair that was adjacent to it

Luna was about to say something but something caught her eye

'What the heck is this?' She thought with a perplexed look, she reached out and picked up a Black envelope with a dark seal

"Takashi is this yours?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow

Takashi shook his head "Nope, found it here, sorry I was going to mention it to you but you were kinda sad looking" He mentioned with a sheepish half smile

Luna waved her hand "No worries" she ripped the letter open and found a nicely written letter

"Huh…." She said skimming over it

"Hey don't read it for yourself! Read it aloud!?" Aiyano said with displeasure

Luna grimaced "fine, fine….uh let's see here…"

She began to read from the top line

"Hello

I have taken note of your recent troubles. In particular the revealing of your true form at a party this evening. I'm sure you feel very lonely, perhaps misguided or clueless. Well rest assured we are he from you, for Miss Lune you are not alone, you are not the only one of your kind. Atop the largest mountain on the outskirts of Tokyo is a clan that is compiled of the people of our kind and I would like to formally invite you to it.

Feeling better yet? Well, with all good news, reality must come.…If you think you can just go back to interacting with the humans you are mistaken, the humans will no longer accept you, and you don't have much time, make your choice within 3 days, we are allowing you just that much time, make your way to us, I implore you. Please I have seen so many die because of the hunters of our kind, I'm sure you have never heard of them, but they have likely heard of you, and if they haven't they will very soon, and _**will kill you**__._

If you choose to stay despite my many warning, then forget everything you have read, burn this note and hope that you will be safe.

Signed,

A Beta wolf of Night bane"

Luna finished with a large sigh, her eyes distant in thought

"Oh man Luna…what are you going to do….what can we do?" Aiyano asked placing a hand on her friend's shoulder

"Well she can't just go up to some strange mountain with a bunch of MONSTERS!" Takashi yelled, voicing his displeasure

Luna narrowed her eyes "Takashi if you forget _I am_ one of those Monsters…" she said spitting the word 'monster' out of her mouth like Poison

Takashi cringed at her raised voice "Oh Luna I'm sorry…I just….I don't want you getting hurt!" he said quietly then angrily

Aiyano stopped Luna from retorting

"Takashi listen dude, we can keep her here and have her killed by these 'hunters' or she can go be with her kind! If you don't want her dead, let her go!"

Takashi stood up and pointed his finger at Aiyano "How do you know this is true? For all we know this could all just be a practical joke!" He grit his teeth, anger starting to take hold

Aiyano stood up, her eyes full of a fire "Oh really Takashi? So you will take the chance that Luna will stay here and die? At the very least we can take her to the mountain and she can try this out!"

Takashi scoffed "Try it? Ha that's a laugh. What if they take her and capture her?! If they really do exist that is!"

Aiyano got in his face "What would they want her for? Yea they are interested in her because she got the letter, but why would they offer her a place to stay if they wanted her captured? The person that delivered this letter could have just stayed here and took her when she got home! It obvious they wanted her to make the choice herself!"

Takashi stepped back, defeated "Fine then! If they really do exist then ill drive her to the mountain myself!"

Aiyano smirked "So it's settled then, Luna is going to this mountain clan, so she can hopefully learn to control her….uh….ability"

Luna stood up, her fists balled up and white knuckled

"Guys stop…fighting! If I want to go I will choose to do so! It's my choice!"

Both Takashi and Aiyano stooped the glaring at each other and instead looked to Luna, Shame was evident, they were so busy fighting they forgot that this was for Luna, and it was her own choice

"I would go….but my parents….if they found out they would be in such a tizzy they would lock me up for the rest of my life! And you Takashi, of course they exist! How can you explain that creepy dude that we saw near the elevator?"

Aiyano grimaced, Luna had a good point, and Takashi rubbed his forehead, feeling ashamed

"Luna, it's not like they come see you…how would they know? The dude by the elevator? Yea….I guess that is a pretty good point" Takashi asked, attempting to make a point

Luna glared at him, he shrunk away at her gaze "They _will_ Come and see me if I don't write them weekly letters or call them."

Aiyano raised an eyebrow "So why don't you just do that up in the mountains?" She said, putting it rather bluntly

Luna stuttered, trying to find an objection, but failed to find one

"You have a point but…if I miss one letter or call; they will have the whole Tokyo police department after me" Luna grumbled, she sighed and fell back down onto the couch, Takashi and Aiyano knew that it was partly true

Aiyano sat back down next to Luna and placed her hand on her shoulder

"Luna, if I have to forge a letter so that my best friend can stay with the people that will save her from these hunters, then I'll do it"

Takashi joined in

"yea and if I have to, ill come by every week and pick you up just so you can go home and write a letter or get you in cell tower range so you can call 'em" He said with pride

Luna looked up at both of her friends, who she knew weren't kidding

She chuckled with a sob "Well I don't have much a choice in the matter anymore do I?"

Takashi jumped on the couch startling her and gave her a hug from the side

"Nope! And true friends will help solve your worst problems! So what you waiting for! Write a letter to your parents, pack up, get your crap together and Aiyano and I will take you personally!" He said with a broad smile

Luna smiled back laughing

"Well can I at least get a good night's rest after such a long night?" she asked with a giggle

Takashi laughed and rubbed the back of his neck "yea now that you mention it I am pretty tired myself"

Aiyano rolled her eyes " yea I can barely keep my eyes open right now, what a long party and an even longer night"

Luna yawned "Alright then, if you want you can chill here tonight, work it out amongst yourselves, I'm going to take a shower" she said getting up off the couch and trudging to her bathroom with a groan

Once they heard her close the door Takashi stood up

"You need a ride home?" he asked with a light smirk and a raised eyebrow

Aiyano shook her head

"Thanks dude but I'm going to stay with Luna tonight, I'll let my parents know"

Takashi nods understanding "Alright then, keep her comforted okay?"

Aiyano chuckled as Takashi walked to the door, as soon as he opened it to leave Aiyano spoke to him

"You know Takashi if I didn't know better I would say you like Luna…" she said with a giggle

Takashi strolled out the door like he didn't hear her, in the hallway he sighed, a rosy color had begun to surface on his cheeks

Aiyano smiled subtly, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted her mother letting her know that she was at Luna's, if her mom was even still awake that is

Her phone expelled a loud chime and Aiyano checked it her mother texted her back

'Fine, but try not to text me at 3 in the morning, I'll call you around late morning.' Aiyano laughed knowing how tired her mom must be right about now. She did already prepare her mom that she would be out late. She was already used to her daughter staying up late, after all she was the one Aiyano inherited it from.

Aiyano lay down on the couch waiting for her friend to get out of the shower, she rested her head up against the armrest, feeling drained, not only physically; but mentally as well

This ungodly pressure just sat onto of her chest, making her nearly drift to sleep if it were not for the moonlight shining in from an open curtain

She groaned and sat up, she blew some of her hair out of her face and walked over to the curtain and shut it, just as her slender hand grasped the cloth she heard a door open

Her eyes trailed over, Luna stood in the hallway covered with towels

"Hang on Aiyano I'll be right back, where did Takashi go?" Luna asked as she timidly stepped further out of the hallway, afraid that Takashi would see her in nothing but a towel

Aiyano waved her hand dismissingly with a roll of her eyes "he left no worries"

Luna sighed with relief and stepped fully into the living room "So, where you want to sleep? I can't grab the inflatable mattress or you can just sleep here" She remarked placing a hand on her hip

Aiyano stretched her arms above her head with a yawn "I think I may just sleep here tonight" She said sleepily

Luna smirked "You good without a cover?"

She received a nod from her friend, Luna began to walk to her room as well, she paused, Aiyano said something more

"Night Luna…" Aiyano said drearily as she snuggled her head deeper into the couch pillow

Luna giggled to herself "Night Aiyano….and thanks…." She muttered the last part in a meaningful tone

Aiyano however, had heard her friend's last words and smiled

'You're welcome' she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Mythology: Night's bane

Chapter 4: Up the mountain

-787-

*knock, Knock, Knock* Three sharp, audible knocks up against the door to Luna's apartment

The disturbing noises rang through the house, Aiyano groaned and rolled over on the couch, her nose twitched as the only reaction, other than that she didn't get any closer to being awake

"Oh come on…." Takashi grimaced as he knocked yet again from outside the dark wooden door, his impatience rising alongside his annoyance, he needed to get inside, without him they wouldn't be able to get to this mountain that Luna was aiming to travel to, that and he really didn't feel like coming back after driving all the way here from his house on the other side of the city

After the fifth time, Aiyano's eyes shot open, she growled and stumbled to her feet, her head was swimming with pain from getting up to quick, she grit her teeth and marched over to the door, the incessant banging on the door was grinding her nerves to mush

"Listen buddy I don't know who you think you are…" she flung open the door with a forceful fling and met face to…well chest with Takashi

She gazed up with an open mouth

"Oh jeez Takashi it's just you…" she said as she narrowed her cerulean eyes and stomped back to the couch, she dove right back onto the leather furnishing and just about fell back asleep laying on her stomach, Not even regarding or talking to Takashi

Takashi walked in and shut the door, making sure to lock it, he strolled in and peeked around the quant home, unsure of what he should do, he could wake up Luna, but part of him fear what would become of him if he did such a thing. She was rather fond of sleep and he didn't want to be the one to take her away from that. He glanced over at Aiyano who was unmoving upon the brown leather centerpiece of the living room; He rolled his dull brown eyes with a scoff

'Such a surprise that she would fall asleep again,' he thought sarcastically, he turned to the kitchen and pulled out a dark wooden and white cloth chair from the transparent glass dining table. He sat down with a barely audible grunt and shifted around getting comfortable, he reached into his pocket and took out his smartphone which was encased in a black and blue cover

'Well….guess I'm going to wait for a little while…' he told himself with an irritated thought

-787-

The roof of her room faded back into existence as Luna was plucked from her rather pleasant dream, the white painted roof came into a foggy focus, Luna shut her eyes tightly and rubbed her eyes, she yawned and sat up lifting one arm in the air as she stretched her back

Once she felt her spine pop she relaxed and lazily slid out of bed, she stepped heavily over to her dresser with half closed eyes and picked out a few articles of clothing as she rifled through her drawers, a purple flowery blouse and a pair of white shorts

Just as she put on her shirt she heard a knock on her bedroom door, she jumped violently with a frightened look, she relaxed when the recollection of Aiyano staying here flowed back into her mind

She walked over to the door and opened it; she got a grand surprise when it was Takashi who was at the door and not Aiyano, she shut the door with amazing force and laid her back up against the door blocking Takashi from coming in, a heated red blush on her face, she did have all her clothes on but even still….she wasn't expecting to see a 175cm tall guy sitting in her doorway in the morning

She heard Takashi knock again, she sighed

"Luna? If you up to it we can start heading to that mountain, T-that's why I came here so early…sorry I should have called you or something…"

Luna's eyes grew wide, the mountain! She had nearly forgotten about it!

Takashi watched her open the door again, this time she stepped out and walked right past him, hunched over and looking very dazed, before she was out of sight she called to him without so much as a glance

"Come on, let's wake up Aiyano…." She said with an unmotivated groan

Takashi rolled his eyes and followed her to wake up the she-devil

-787-

"Tree….tree…..tree Auggg! Is there something to do besides counting trees?" Aiyano yelled with a huff from the back seat of Takashi's car, Luna and Takashi both sighed at the same time, they glanced at each other with a smile at their timing. Luna cast her attention back to Aiyano

"Hey is there something to do beside complain the whole ride to the mountain?" She said with a chuckle as she sat up and turned to her friend, Takashi started laughing, Aiyano crossed her arms and refused to look at the both of them

Luna sat back in her seat "Don't you have like the most expensive phone on the market? Why not text someone or play a game?"

Aiyano growled and balled up her fist "I wish I could! But guess what? There is no signal this far out of the city!"

Takashi zoned out the bicker of the two girls, He tried his best to focus on the road, After he had to get off the highway Takashi found himself with an old cracked concrete road, Not much to look at and it was barren much like the ones that come to mind when an old used road simply gets bypassed by a newer, better engineered road. Not a single car in sight aside from one or two every half hour, still the rural scenery was a nice change from the city, if his memory was as good as it used to be, then the mountain should be in sight soon. By this point in time Luna and Aiyano had stopped bickering, much to Takashi's relief. Luna stared out the window, her lazy gaze catching very few things that brought interest, even though she was trying to keep her mind off it she kept contemplating what exactly this Night's bane place was, Was it really a town for people like her? That phrase stuck to her mind like glue

'_Like her_'

'What am I exactly?' Luna thought with a disturbed shudder, as she contemplated what she just said for a moment, she found herself feeling even more of a mystery

'I don't even know what I am…am I really just a monster? A creature that will never be able to coexist with humans? The person that wrote the letter said I could…but how can I trust them? Does this stupid clan even exist? Am I just a pawn in some sick game?' She was so deep in thought she didn't even hear Takashi call her name

"Luna….Luna….Luna!" He repeated three times, the third time she finally snapped out of her day dream

"Huh?! What?" she said looking around with a nervous expression

He simply pointed his finger toward something ahead of them

"We're here"

Luna looked out the windshield, Sure enough an enormous mountain was in view, it was covered in snow at the top, and the sides of it were hidden under an entire forest, the size of it compared to the other mountains around it was crazy, it was nearly twice the size of the mountains that flanked it.

"Oh man…." She said with awe, her mouth was open as she stared right at the place she was going to call home, or she hoped she would

"Jeez I don't like the looks of them sides Luna…" Aiyano said with a hesitant tone

"What do you mean?" Luna asked with a sneer

"No, no not you the freakin mountain! Look it's got almost completely vertical walls!" Aiyano said pointing with her finger

"I think she's trying to say that the mountain looks really steep" Takashi translated Aiyano's confusing adjectives

"Yea" Aiyano said with defeat, just opting to agree with Takashi

Luna looked back to the mountain, they were not kidding

"Well….you doesn't know that, it could be fine, it may just be the angle we are at" Luna said with a slightly sure tone

"I like the optimism Luna, but it doesn't look too good" Takashi said with a chuckle

Luna bit her upper lip "Well one way or another Im going to have to scale it.." she said with a meager laugh, as she stared up at the mountain, it was starting to look intimidating to say the least

At 3:43, after a good 2 hours of driving, complaining, anxiety and anger the group arrives at the nearest point to the mountain on the road, Ahead of them was a bridge that spanned across a huge fracture in the earth's crust, to the right of the bridge was the rest of the fissure, Dense Forestry on either side of it. Inside the monstrous break was nothing but large boulders from the sides of the fracture that had broken loose, not much was down there other than that.

However on the left where the mountain was, that was a different story, a valley seemed to run the circumference of the Mountain at first glance or at least this portion of it, That in itself was a mystery, A valley that can the circumference of an entire mountain? It's almost like a moat that one would find around a castle. The fracture was literally perpendicular to the valley, Almost like a Topographical 'T' and inside the valley was a large river, All things green and natural were on the side of the mountain, Trees coated the mountain much like a coat on a human, all manner of animals could be seen roaming around on the mountain, the way the bright and lush green contrasted with the darker and more ominous pigment of exposed rock of the mountain was nothing short of a natural masterpiece. On the side of the valley that Luna was on was a completely different story, although it had trees, most of them were not as vibrate and colorful as the ones on the mountain's stead.

Takashi pulled off to the left right before they crossed the bridge to continue on the road, they all got out of the car to marvel at this natural masterpiece

Luna, Aiyano and Takashi all walked to the edge of the valley, the side that they were on anyways

The silence was broken with Aiyano's smart remark

Aiyano leaned forward and gazed over the sides of the massive valley "Well that sure puts a wrench in the works don't it Luna?" She said with a grin as she turned to look at her friend

Luna was shaking from apprehension, the valley had to be 120m diameter, and how in the world would she even get down into the valley and back up with all the boulders and loose soil that barely clung to the roots of trees on the opposing side? Heck the rock that was on the mountain side looked a heck of a lot similar to the Granite that she studied in science class for geology, and granite is some of the toughest natural occurring substances on earth, no way was she getting over to that mountain.

Takashi observed most of the opposing valley side with a keen eye, however still nothing remotely possible was in sight; everything was either too steep or just too loose, if neither of those then granite was visible from spots where all the loose soil had given way, You can't climb on granite because of its toughness, For there are almost no cracks or indentations to grab on to.

Aiyano wasn't even really looking much, she practically gave up when she saw the sheer size of the mountain, if this clan was at the top they had a lot of hiking to do.

Luna was gritting her teeth anxiously; her hope was slowly diminishing with each passing second, as she cast her gaze to her right idly something in the distance caught her attention, she squinted her eyes trying to find out what exactly it was

"H-hey…..Aiyano you see that?" Luna asked her friend giving her a bump on the shoulder to grab her attention

Aiyano stuttered as she was brought out of a daydream and looked to where she pointed

"Yea I do…..I think it's a….bridge…" She said in a whisper like voice

Takashi caught the word bridge and cut in "Huh? Bridge? Where?"

"Right there Takashi, you see it?" Luna said pointing down the valley at the faint brown line in the distance

"Yea I do….come on, maybe that's your ticket across!" he exclaimed and starting to walk to the car

"Let's go guys! It's not too far" he yelled as he pulled open the driver side door and sat down in the seat

Both Aiyano and Luna jogged to the car, When the Click of seat belts reached Takashi's ears he put the car into gear, Aiyano looked over to Luna, who was in very deep thought and saying she look troubled would be a vast understatement

"Luna….you okay?" Aiyano asked

Luna barely acknowledged her, still thinking on whatever subject dominated her mind

"Anything you want to share with me? 'Cause you know im here for you" Aiyano said with a cocky grin

Luna couldn't help but smile a bit

"Yea Aiyano I know, I guess im just still a bit curious about this whole situation….." She trailed off there, not wanting to say anymore, she didn't want to explain her depressing thoughts of her being Human or an animal. Aiyano would say something brash and brush it off, But Luna felt that it wasn't that easily dismissed

Takashi interrupted Aiyano before she could question Luna further, He stopped on a small green field, it was pleasant to say the least with its charming little atmosphere, it was most likely cleared as an entrance for the bridge.

"Dang it is a bridge, good eye guys!" he said grinning, he stepped out of the car and started to walk to it

Luna smiled at Aiyano "I don't care what they say about you Aiyano, You really are nice deep down" She said with a mischievous grin, It was nice to see that Aiyano truly cared for her

Aiyano smiled with pride as Luna stepped out of the car "Hmm yea I am pretty nice…Wait! Who says what about me?!" Aiyano exclaimed, quickly realizing the meaning of the her friend's statement

As Takashi Approached the Bridge he noticed two things about it, one, its wood was a rich, light brown color, by this he could tell that it was new. Two, it was wide, enough for him to drive his car onto if it wasn't a wood and rope bridge

"Huh, Not to far of a drop here" Takashi commented as he gazed down into the valley from the edge of the cliff face just to the right of the bridge, it rose to a drop of about 20 meters here, much shorter that it was where they had just been. He looked behind himself and noticed that Luna and Aiyano were just behind him, Luna walked up beside him; she too looked down the valley

"Look safe to you?" Takashi questioned Luna

She looked up to him and smiled "a lot safer than attempting to climb down the valley and backup"

Takashi chuckled "Here you go ahead; Aiyano and I will grab the bags"

Luna raised an eyebrow and turned to face him as he walked to the car

"You got it? Or you need my help?" Luna asked, placing a hand on her hip

"Nah im fine, go ahead we'll be right there"

Luna smirked and spun on her heel to the bridge, she placed one precarious foot on the first board, then another foot a bit faster, she gently placed all her weight on the bridge

'Hmm, it's a lot better than I thought" She continued down the light colored bridge with caution, when she reached about three fourths of the way she heard Aiyano yell something to Takashi, she dismissed it and continued across to the other side

-787-

"Here, catch!" Aiyano shouted and tossed a bag to Takashi, he flung his hands up in pure reaction and failed to grab it as it hurtled into his chest, he exhaled violently and groaned

"Thanks…." Takashi said with a wince

"You're welcome ya big baby" Aiyano said as she grabbed her bag that was packed to the point of nearly bursting, She huffed and slung the bag on her shoulder

"You know you could have packed a little lighter" Takashi said with a tone of disbelief and a raised eyebrow, the way Aiyano was carrying it made it seem like it weighed a ton. She huffed and turned to the bridge, ignoring Takashi's words. He sighed and walked up behind her in a hurried pace and snatched the bag off her back, earning an irate "HEY!," He set it down on the trunk hatch of his car and began rummaging through it despite Aiyano's Protests, He fished out a hairdryer and stared at it for a moment then looked at her with an expression that could only convey the message 'seriously?'

"What?" She asked innocently and shrugged

He shook the thing for emphasis as he said "This is a hairdryer, it requires electricity and we are climbing up a mountain, one of the largest in Japan at that"

She snatched it from his outstretched hand and held it like a precious gem "Well what if they have electricity in this Night bane place?" she said with a defiant tone.

Takashi felt like face palming himself so hard it would leave a red mark "It's a clan on a mountain Aiyano, I don't think they have electricity on a _mountain_" He remarked with annoyance

She grumbled and opened the door to Takashi's car and tossed it onto the backseat "You never know!" She said pointing a finger at Takashi

Takashi looked around in the bag some more, when he pulled out a curler he couldn't help but sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose, shaking his head the whole time

"What?" Aiyano said with a chuckle this time

"I just said that Mountains don't have elect-!" He was cut off when the sound of a motor reached his ears, it was loud, or at least loud enough to roar over the sound of the river in the valley, Suddenly a Buzz began in the back of his head, he set the curler and bag down and hurried to the front of his car so he could hear better

"Aiyano, you hear that?" he asked as she walked up beside him

She tilted her head to try and listen to the noise Takashi was talking about; when she heard it she shrugged

"Yea it's a car so what?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip, not sure why Takashi was so riled up

He turned to her with eyes wide "I have no idea why, but I have a bad idea about this…." He was telling the truth, for some ungodly reason a ghostly feeling just ran up his spine when he heard that noise

He shook his head back and forth "I must be delusional" he said aloud, Aiyano was seriously creeped out by now

"What? Delusional? What are you talking about Takashi?" She asked, stepping in front of him and shaking his shoulders as he stood blank faced, staring down the road

The truck came into view and he snapped out of it, looking down at Aiyano he spoke

"Sorry I-I don't know what got into me, I guess it's…..well I c-can't really explain it" They both were jolted out of their talk when the truck turned the corner and came into view, not even within a few seconds it had pulled up right next to Takashi's car

It was disturbing to see what it looked like; it was Black on black on black (an exaggeration on how distinctive the lack of hue is) It was raised a good 10cm past the normal height of the stock lift, and had tinted windows that he could barely see into, its engine was loud and spewed a black, congesting smoke out of the tail pipe, Now that he looked at the vehicle it was more of a Jeep like machine, you know, one that is built for off-road travel

At the same time the two doors opened, and two people hopped out of the truck, the first man Takashi saw was the passenger

Man he looked gruff and was monstrous in size for japan, standing easily 15 cm taller than Takashi and Takashi was the tallest kid in his class, maybe even the school. He was very muscular almost to the point of being scary, like he did a workout routine every other day, The man had scars all over his arms, the beginning of a large scar peeked out from the top of his grey muscle shirt, it most likely ran across his entire chest, his grey military pants covered two large black boots, When the man's gaze finally fell on Takashi, he held back his surprise, Four excruciating looking scar ran across his face, left to right, from one end of his face to the other, They barely missed his eyes, However one line did go across his right eyelid, though the eye looked fine, Lucky him. He walked up to Takashi and Aiyano, with a warm grin on his face, not a smile mind you, but he wasn't hostile, at least he didn't portray to be that way at first. Takashi and Aiyano stood on the far side of the hood of his car; the man walked up and stood on the side opposite to them

Before he spoke Takashi noticed the Driver, His eyes widened when he saw a girl, a little older than him walk up beside the first man, She was clothed in an odd Outfit, possibly what one would call combat armor, though not nearly as thick as what the military wore, but not as thin as regular clothing, It was all dark green with the exception of Leather bindings along the legs and arms, Two brown straps ran down the shoulders and clipped to the belt, Takashi's Eyes widened, it was made for ammunition for a firearm, not doubt. Her hair was short in a military style cut, and she stood in an erect type of body posture. Takashi was sure she had a no nonsense kind of attitude. Her skin was fair like that of the first man; she was in no way Asian. She stood with her hands behind her back; she narrowed her gaze when she realized Takashi was staring at her.

The man spoke with a deep, rather comforting voice, surprisingly he spoke Japanese, he would have to considering the fact he lived in Japan "Son, May I ask what you and this young lady are doing out this far in the mountains?"

Takashi was nervous but took a breath and told a semi-honest answer

"Oh we were just going to climb the mountains, get away from the city" He said stretching the truth, the man's expression tightened with a tinge of anger

"Son, let me tell you something, This Mountain is no place to climb, why even go for this one? There are plenty of smaller ones that are much more scenic and easier to climb than this one, why make the trip all the way for this one?"

Takashi felt sweat for on his brow, the man scrutinizing gaze working a nervous chill up his spine, Before Takashi could respond he spoke again

"Was it the legend that enticed you to come here?" he said leaning on the roof of Takashi's car

"W-what legend?" Aiyano asked, before Takashi could even ask the question himself

His slightly angered expression lightened "Really? I am surprised that you don't know, I mean, it was this generation of kids that spread it around, at least I think so…" He said contemplating the last part with a hand to his chin

Aiyano and Takashi both answered with a shake of a head and "No sir"

He grinned "Really? Well I could tell you but it's a Just a ghost story, unless of course you are interested?" He asked

Takashi had no desire for it but before he could voice his objection, Aiyano had already beaten him to the punch

"Sure why not, I always am up for scary stuff!" She said with a cross of her arms and grin

Takashi could see his eyebrows rise in surprise, the man leaned down on the car once more. Takashi was quick to question his interest in trying to scare them off with this ghost story…

"Well I haven't told it in a while so why not?" he said with a glint in his eye

He cleared his throat and spoke yet again "Well it goes something like this if I remember right…Many people have said that something inhuman lives in the mountain, Something that is able to kill or remove someone without a sound or trace, many, many hiking group supposedly would have a missing member and not even notice it until they stopped for water or food, A lot of wolves are heard howling at night, but the howl is different, louder, longer and makes a bear growl sound like a pussy cat that scratches at the door to go out at night, some thought it was just wolves that injured or….killed them, but they were wrong, one body was almost purposely left on that very bridge…" he gestured to the bridge behind them

"The body was a young girl who hiked up the mountain with her family, and was lost halfway through the trip, When the family ran up to her lifeless husk with tears of sorrow they noticed something that made their blood go ice cold, claw marks, The distance between the marks was attributed to the size of the paw of whatever clawed her to death, This creature is enormous, If the proportions are right then this thing is almost Three to Three and a half meters in length and One hundred and eighty to Two hundred and ten Centimeters tall." He stared off into space, almost like he was reliving something, He Lifted his hand to his face as he traced the middle most claw mark, Takashi felt himself get sick with the thought of whatever cut him up

He shook his head back to reality and returned his smile "But that's nothing but ghosts and Fairy tales as I said, every bit of it, But im sure you two can see why it attracts attention"

Takashi nodded in agreement; Aiyano looked unimpressed with this "Ghost story"

"So why not you pack up and head to the mountains that are closer to the city" He said as he got up and cracked his neck from resting so long

Takashi was all for leaving, but gosh dang it! Aiyano was asking questions again! Takashi was sure she never heard the old tale of how curiosity killed the cat.

"But sense it's just Ghosts and fairy tales, why can't we climb the mountain?" She gave a confident smirk

The man did not take too kindly to that kind of behavior but his partner spoke before he did; apparently Takashi wasn't the only getting interrupted

"Listen, like he said it's a steep mountain and not very enjoyable to climb" The girl said with a minimum amount of emotion

But as Aiyano always did, she kept pressing

"Well I think we can manage a steep cliff or two" She said grabbing Takashi's Arm and pulling him closer to further her point

The man shook his head "Listen, just listen for a second please, This mountain has no value in recreation, it's difficult to climb and all the cliffs are covered in trees so you can't even enjoy the view, The steep trail may not seem like much at first, but once the air thins out and you have been hiking for a few hours it makes you feel miserable" He expressed his point with many hand motions, he clearly didn't want them to go up this mountain and his patience was thinning

Then His partner gave a sneer and looked at Aiyano

"And you don't look like one that can go to long without losing all your stamina"

The man hit her on the shoulder lightly for saying such an out of turn and _Ad hominem _comment

"Well thanks for the warning but I think we will be on our way, come on Takashi, grab your stuff" Aiyano said defiantly, and grabbed his bag and tossed it to him, who once again, caught it clumsily

As they walked away the man rubbed his temples in frustration with an aggravated sigh, he lifted up his hand to stop them before they turned and left

"Listen, the creature may not exist…but the bear that killed those people does!"

Takashi felt Goosebumps pop up all over his skin

"Didn't….you just say that _the entire_ story was false?" Takashi asked with a breaking voice

Aiyano stopped at bit ahead of Takashi, catching on to what he was saying, she too turned around and looked a tad uneasy

The man stepped back; he could tell he was caught in a lie "Well…." He was cut off by Aiyano

"So that girl? And all those hikers? They did die?" She said taking a step forward, hoping that he was lying this whole time

The man spat back "Now listen he-"Takashi cut him off

"They did really pass away didn't they? So what killed them? That bear or-or that Creature?" He said getting hysteric, his gaze traced to where Luna was, starting to fear for her, but she wasn't there, What if that creature was going to get her…

Then it clicked, The Creatures are those that are inviting Luna to the mountain…..Are considered to be a monster by this guy

'Best to not let him know about them then….' He thought, he glanced at Aiyano hoping that she made the same connection

The man was getting visibly irritated so he stepped back to the truck for a moment and hunched over, he sighed and waved to the girl next to him, she started speaking in his place

"To answer your questions, Yes, as unfortunate as it is those people did die"

Takashi let out a sigh of sadness, how terrible to die on some mountain without your family?

She continued "but not from some creature. It was from a bear that had gotten the taste of human flesh, my father has tried time and time again to end that monster once and for all" She took in a heavy breath "however…. it still stalks the mountain and that is why we don't let people venture up the mountain, now please….please just leave" she expressed with such an irritated tone Aiyano was sure she was about to pull a gun out on them or something

Takashi was sure something was inconstant with what they were saying, but he wasn't sure…It just kept going back to the bear statement, that the bear had killed those people….Bears….why did that make him feel like they were lying…..

-787-

Luna observed her surroundings, taking in the scent of the gigantic trees and flowers that blanketed the mountain like an overcoat; the forest floor was covered in leaves, Brush, grass, bushes and all manner of vines tangled around and nearly engulfed every space that wasn't occupied by something else.

"Should have brought a machete…" She thought with a disheartened groan and ran her hand through her hair.

'If I try and Walk through that I'll be cut up by thorns or curled up in vines' She thought with grimace as she paced around looking for some reasonable way past the obstruction that seemed to go all around the mountain

'I could always transform…that would make it a whole lot easier' She pondered for a moment

'Oh wait…..Im still with Takashi and Aiyano' she turned around to see what was taking them so long

They were bickering by the car, Aiyano looked angry and Takashi was waving a hairdryer in his hand while he was saying something to Aiyano

Luna chuckled, it seemed like they always bickered, like two little old women, that thought made her laugh. Her laugh died when a sound hit her ears, it apparently was heard by Takashi as well, the roar of an engine as it rounded the turn

Luna ran back across the bridge, then the scent from the Vehicle hit her nose

It smelled of diesel, pollution and toxicity if she could explain it best, but it was the lingering scent that gave her a chill

A coppery like smell, one that she would smell when someone got a cut or was wounded, but then it would smell like a human. No this one had a wild smell to it…like…like

Her blood

Whatever blood was on that truck, it was similar to hers and she felt her natural instincts claw at the back of her skull telling her every neuron to run away and leave them to their fate, whatever that truck was it smelled like _death_

Her human side was in control though, and she fought the urge to escape

She started to sprint toward Takashi and Aiyano with as much force as she could muster, she made it across the bridge and onto the grass, but the truck came into view, she ducked down immediately by a tree, not wanting to be seen by it at all, Her chest heaved from her exertion, She really wanted to yelled to Takashi and Aiyano to get out of there, but what if the people in the truck hear her?

She peeked around the tree's girth, an enormous man stepped out of the passenger's side, she couldn't get a look for detail but he was no civilian, looking more military oriented

Luna's eyes picked up more movement from across the hood of the truck; coming from the driver's side was a young lady, clad in some sort of….armor. Luna covered her nose in disgust, the stench that covered the truck was getting to her, while the man talked to Takashi and Aiyano she crept up in the shadows, deliberately taking her time so that no sound or glance would give away her cover

She stepped behind a bush that was a good 20 meters away from the car, Luna moved her feet and peered over the top of the bush but when she re adjusted her footing a second time a loud snap rang out, She lowered her head as quick as lightning, her heard raced faster than it would have if she ran the mile at school and she was sure that she wasn't long for this world after that

But despite her fears, no yell came to her ears, any gunshots or sounds of them approaching, with cautious relief she wiped her forehead clean of cold sweat and took a deep breath and continued her lethargic approach, listening and watching for any sign of hostility toward her friends.

She felt relief run its way through her as she reach a safe hiding spot not even 15 yards away from Takashi and Aiyano, now she felt better and could retaliate if something bad happened, but with any luck nothing would

Boy was she wrong…

-787-

Then it hit him, much like an epiphany would to someone searching for answers

In Biology he remembers a significant lesson, coming to the conclusion in record time he spoke up with a forceful voice

"You are still lying!" he said pointing an accusing finger at the girl

"The only bear natives to Japan is the Asian black bear and the only mountains they ever have been known to live in is the Himalayas, not the mountains here in japan!" The girl closed her eyes and sighed, she had failed to trick them

All attention was turned to the man when he gave a chuckle and spoke softly, He had been out witted despite his best attempts

"Listen kid I liked you, I really did" He said with a sigh, as he looked at the ground, he raised his head and both his arms; he reached in the back of the truck and hoisted out a rifle. Takashi could practically feel his nerves freeze in place

"But there are some things in this world you should just stop digging your nose into, But hey at least you helped me out, Now I know for the next time to use a different story" he chambered a round making Takashi freeze and Aiyano let out a helpless squeak

He raised the rifle and adjusted his stance, the rifle leveled with Takashi; Takashi stood like a statue, still in shock that this was happening, Both he and Aiyano Panicked and dropped their bags onto the grass that they stood apon

"Wait! Wait! Please we can still leave! Why would you shoot us?!" Takashi cried out, confusion and terror trembled through him like an earthquake

The man shook his head with a emotionless gaze, he didn't even seem that much like a human anymore with that impersonal and icy stare. Aiyano and Takashi were sure that they had met their end.

With just one last painful phrase the man raised the rifle yet again

"Didn't you ever hear the phrase, Curiosity killed the cat?"


	5. Chapter 5

Mythology: Night Bane

Chapter 5: For the ones you love

-787-

Staring down the barrel of the gun was like being lost beyond a Black hole's Event horizon, that small sickening feeling of being lost without and hope to be found, a feeling that you will not survive the events before you. A weak and hopeless sensation that drove even the strongest to their knees in emotional turmoil, Tell me….have you ever realized you stepped too far ahead and cannot go back to fix your mistakes? Thoughts like this synapsed all over the neurons in Takashi's brain. He was sure that he wasn't going to live, His heart was racing, sweat was pouring down his face and the Aiyano's Uncontrolled, helpless cries didn't make it any easier on him. As his hands trembled and lips grew dry he briefly wondered if he would ever see his family again, not that they would care, they would most likely enjoy the fact that he was about to be shot in cold blood on some Forsaken mountain with no hope of his news of death ever getting out. If despair had even weaseled it way into Takashi's Life, now was the time he truly felt its presence. As he partook in perhaps the last few thoughts that he would even experience, he noticed that time seemed to have stopped; Events from his life danced in his subconscious like the sun's rays danced across the sky in order less abandon.

"I suppose this is what they call your life flashing before your eyes" He thought, He idly wondered if he should have expressed his feeling to a certain girl before he died as she vividly flashed by in his memories. Regrets, Feelings, Memories, Desires and Dreams all Passed before his eyes, It was in this moment he knew that after see all this it was his time to go. It was his time to leave….Oh how death was a cruel mistress

Takashi watched in his last seconds as the man's finger squeezed the trigger, he waited for the pain but it would never come

His guardian angel was watching….or rather his guardian Wolf

Leaping from the brush just when the man was about to fire, Luna grasped the barrel of the gun tipping it literally a hairs breadth from Takashi's Face; He stood in awestruck stupor as the bullet literally grazed the hair on the side of his head, Leaving a large, profusely bleeding gash the length of the side of his face just above his ear

The pain didn't register immediately for Takashi, adrenaline was coursing through him like an electric charge, in an awe struck stupor as Luna wrestled with the man on the ground, as the gnashing of teeth, swears, whimpers of pain and punches landing all rang out from the man and wolf that battle to the death in front of him, and there he stay in an upright, statue like pose as blood trickled down the side of his head. Aiyano lay helpless nearby on the grassy floor, watching as man and beast fight out their differences, She stood up and quickly tried to run over to help Luna, not even thinking of what happened to Takashi, She was far too concerned for her double, the girl that she had known all her life. The Girl that was with the man stepped in front of Aiyano with a pistol drawn in a stable but Intimidating stance, her finger on the trigger and aimed at Aiyano, She stopped immediately, a knot in her throat and her chest heaving at the sudden exertion and stop, Aiyano couldn't hope to do anything but wait for the gunshot. A sickening _Crunch_ followed by the girl's cry of agony rang in aiyano's ears, She looked up to see Luna whom had jumped away from the man and with all her strength bit down the lower leg of the girl who sought to end Aiyano's Life. The man sprinted after Luna and rapidly grabbed Luna by the scruff and _flung_ her away from the girl with a nightmarish yell of exertion, Luna fell to the ground with a yelp and pain coursed through her like the blood that trickled out from her numerous wounds. Aiyano ran passed and ignored the girls wails of hurt and agony as she desperately grasped the massive laceration that exposed muscle and bone, Takashi snapped out of his trance to see Luna leap up from her excruciatingly painful position on the ground where the man had thrown her and was back at the man, her steps and lunges were slowing to an exhaustive pace. Luna was trying so hard but it was a losing battle for her, she was slowly becoming an easy target that moved at the speed akin to molasses for the trained hunter, And the man knew it, he began to gain ground, dodging her swipes and land blows to her sides, His nerves blazed with fury, The man reached to his knife which was strapped to his belt, and stabbed Luna's hind leg with a nauseating slick sound, the little wolf cried out in agony and collapsed to a huffing, huddled pose. Takashi his mind then and there, He dashed at the man with speed that he had never felt was possible for himself, He collided with the hunter with a loud clamor as they both tumbled to the ground in a heap, Takashi felt the pain of the knife slice his skin open but he was beyond caring for his own health at this point in time, He beat upon the man with strength he never knew he had and felt move alive with each hit, the satisfaction of revenge far outweighing the pain he received from the returning blows of the hunter. When Takashi landed a powerful right hook on his face he took the opportunity to get his distance for a moment to catch his rapidly fleeting breath, Aiyano ran over to the two men, seeking to aid takashi, the hunter stood up with a rage filled shout and quickly charged Takashi, However the young man was at least smart enough to avoid the hunter's knife, he did the best he could but even still the hunter got one, two and even three good gashes on the young man. Aiyano lept up to the man, having taken the opportunity of the confusion and focus to sneak up behind the massive man, yelling in rage she ripped the knife from his powerful grip with both hands, The hunter screamed in retaliation and turned his attention to Aiyano, he wretched the knife from her hand and mercilessly beat and sliced into her flesh for an agonizing six seconds before Takashi once again plowed into his side with tremendous force sending them both into another tailspin of cursing and punching, this time they both rolled near a ditch, The young man got to his feet in a mere half second and with all his might sent the hunter tumbling down into the ditch, The man rolled into the cold, dirty water waiting at the bottom, but that was not what caused him to bellow with pain, When his arms flailed uncontrollably down the ditch side, he had fell upon his own knife, It stayed pierced in his abdomen, his muscles contracted around the wound, Preventing an easy removal, But the hunter was a monster of a man, he had been through much worse, He was down but not out. With two hand of immense strength he began to rip the large knife from its embedded position even as the stained and sickening brown ditch water mixed into his blood and around his wound.

Aiyano witnessed the majority of the situation, they need to leave, and they needed to escape; to leave this hellish scene. She croaked with a breathless voice and weakly got to her feet, she called to Takashi feebly "Takashi! We have to leave now!" She cried with tears brimming in her eyes from the pain that burned from beneath her skin, He turned to her and only for a moment did he question her reasoning, within that same moment her plan took shape in his head and he listened immediately, He ran to Luna whom was slowly getting to her furred paws, Behind them the hunter screamed bloody murder as he slowly and agonizingly ripped the knife from his own abdomen. All of them took a terrified look toward the greatly disturbing noise; Takashi ignored the man's cries and helped Aiyano to her feet "Quickly we have to get to the car!" He picked up Aiyano quickly and perhaps a bit too rough, but now was not the time for comfort, Luna, although wounded and in muscle seizing pain, still manage to run beside Takashi, they swiftly ran past the truck, Takashi pumped his legs as fast as he could through all the pain, Luna was right behind him.

However To their left was the Young woman whom was in the company of the hunter, still grasping her leg she watched as her quarry attempted to escape, she could not let them escape. The secret of the mountain was within their mind and that alone must lead to death. It was the way of their people, their law. Hopelessly she let herself fall to the ground in a weak state, but a discomfort shot up through her nerves from around her stomach, she cursed and lifted herself once again painfully, Her eyes shot open, her pistol was right there, laying in the grass. Without any thought she raised the weapon and turned herself around to the group attempting to escape, she leveled it with the wolf that followed weakly behind the young man and woman. A quick inhalation and two squeezes of the trigger was all that occurred within a second, both bullets missed their mark but the wolf cringed and seek cover, she found it behind a rock nearby the brush, The huntress took notice of how the wolf could not reach the car and escape, it was too far and the young man was already at his car placing the girl in the passenger seat, too late to get the two of them now. The young huntress could still get the wolf though and that thought made her grin wildly with anticipation. Although she could not move, she could still aim. She lay down in the grass to steady her arms and began to fire

One, two, three shots from the small metallic firearm skidded dangerously close to the wolf's hiding place behind the rock that protruded from the grassy field, Luna whimpered with terror, she looked for some way to get to the car but every time she did a bullet would graze the ground near her, if she darted for it she would most certainly die. She then heard a yell that made her shake with fear, The Hunter stumbled to his truck, his abdomen bleeding profusely, The hunter wasted no time in reaching in the back of his truck and retrieving a firearm that would surely kill Takashi and Aiyano. A howl of despair and anguish left the young wolf's throat as she desperately tried to convey to Takashi that he needed to leave lest he die. Takashi lifted himself from the driver seat looking for Luna, he noticed her behind the rock but also noticed the hunter fumbling with a large firearm as he loaded it, and He had no choice he had to leave. He grit his teeth, his face was expressed in such manner of anger, confusion and misery that Luna was sure he would break down then and there, he yelled to her with fleeting breath "Luna!" The word was released at the top of his lungs; it was horrible to hear such hurt in a single word. Hurt that he was in this situation, that he couldn't go back for the person he promised to help and that he must leave or death awaited all of them. He swung himself back into the driver's seat and fumbled violently around for the keys, he promptly found them and jammed them into the ignition and cranked up his old green car, It was put in gear and he slammed on the gas, leaving that place as fast as he could, He didn't dare think twice, if he did he was sure that he would return and die trying to help Luna, He could hear the bullets thunder around the car, imbedding into the pavement and dirt around him as the car zipped out of sight, Debris flung from the projectiles and dirt was launched in through the windows and all over the windshield, They neared the corner, the point in which they would be safe, From the bullets, the madman, and even death

But it didn't feel safe, it didn't feel right. Not without Luna

The car was quiet, both teens refused to speak. Aiyano however could no longer hold in her emotion, she leaned for support against the arm rest of her seat and sobbed, trying to resist as much as she could as she choked back her emotions. Her wounds bled into the seats and the carpet and they burned and felt like they were coated in an acid, she could not find a comfortable position in which to sit, let alone let out her sorrow. Takashi felt like he should talk to her, comfort her, but the words all died on his tongue. He was sure that whatever he said would only make it worse. The pain from his gash started to burn through his adrenaline doped brain, the ache was excruciating and the blood coated his pants leg where it dripped out much like a faucet that was left ever so slightly on. He didn't care about that though, he didn't care about the welts and bruises that made his muscle twist in agony. No he cared for his friend that he left behind. The friend that he was so sure that he could help, so sure that he could assist and make her life better now that one of her greatest secrets was revealed. Now he was sure that it was all his fault, the mountain trip was his idea, his intention. If he hadn't offered to drive Luna then perhaps this never would have occurred…That rang harder in his head harder than anything

His entire fault.

-787-

Luna watched out of the corner of her wolfen eyes as Takashi and Aiyano scrambled in the car and drove off, she smiled in her mind with pride through the pain, they had played it smart, now she can do the same and get out of dodge, part of her longed to leave with them, but doing so would have more than likely led to certain demise. An intense stillness hung in the air as Luna waited for something to occur, something to break the silence. However for an agonizing few moments nothing at all transpired, not even the slight noise of footsteps. Luna perked up her ears, Intent on finding out where the hunter had gone, had he left?

_Thump_, _Thump_

She gasped when the hunter appeared from the corner of the rock with the light machine gun in hand, her mouth open in utter speechlessness, how in the world did he manage to sneak around without her hearing? She didn't get to contemplate much else as the beast of a human began to cackle like a man whose sanity had long left him; He stood up straight despite the powerful throbbing that coursed through his nerves from the inflicted wound. Luna growled and pressed her back against the rock, her fur stood up all along her spine and neck. She vividly remembered how at the beginning of the fight she had scratched, bit and clawed nearly every square inch of his exposed skin, Takashi had then joined in and beat on him, punched, kicked and tackled, but this hunter _still_ could fight like he didn't feel any of it. However Luna could feel the pain seeping through her adrenaline fueled spirit, the blows and kicks he landed from their first encounter took a toll on her. She wasn't sure how long she could last fighting hand to claw, let alone now that he had a light machine gun.

"Your friends have left you, best you give up child and make this easier on both of us" He shifted his weight "well…. just easier for me" He said with a sinister chuckle, Luna gave back a low growl in response; she was scared on the inside. Luna had no honest clue how he figured out she was human; it sent shivers down her furred spine.

"Oh im sorry, forgive me, allow me to correct myself, best you give up you homicidal monster, there is that better?" he said responding to her animalistic retort with nothing but confidence and venom in his words, Luna wished for nothing more than to rip that smug little grin off his face, but what could she do in the current situation? Luna had only one option, to look for an escape just as her friends had done .The bridge came to mind, all the brush, vines and trees on the mountain side would give her excellent cover and perhaps enough time to properly escape the clutches of this madman. Her only problem now was when could she make the move and how would she make it across the bridge without being cut to pieces by lead? She looked at him much like a human looks at a lesser creature, without any care or concern. Her brow was furrowed and her pupils narrow slits, he raised his weapon, he could tell she was planning to do something, he wasn't quite sure what however; he laughed and brought the gun to face her, Just as Takashi felt hopeless when this same man pointed a weapon at him, so did Luna feel a twinge of hope fade from existence

"Let's make this quick" without a single second passing after that sentence he pulled the trigger, sending a flurry of lead right into the side of the wolf that lay before him

Or so he wished it to, instead a sound reached his ears that made him roar with anger

_Click _

Luna ran, she didn't care that her muscles were ablaze with pain or fatigue; she had to get out of there now, the time to run was now, no doubt what so ever in her mind. Moving at speeds that would rival a car she neared the bridge in no time at all, she pumped her legs with exertion that produced a solid ache in her lungs and starved her for air but she didn't care at this point, it was either discomfort of death. The hunter was just as fast as her in terms of reaction and was running back to his truck, the huntress whom was still bound to the ground pulled off round after round until the clip in her pistol was empty, but Luna zigzagged and dodged. With each execution of movement she slowly came closer and closer to her destination. The bullets all landed too far right or too far up, the recoil and inaccuracy of the weapon being it's downfall at this range. The Hunter dove onto the ground where his first rifle lay, where he planned on executing Takashi, He raised it as soon as he felt it's cold steel in his hands, it familiar grip was a sense of confidence that made him all the more sure that he would kill this wolf. He aimed down the sight and froze; the wolf was already beyond the bridge and out of sight. Too far for him to follow, if that wasn't reason enough, then the fact that she was now on the grounds of the mountain was. He threw the gun down in pure anger and yelled to the heavens; His breathing was heavy and his eyes bloodshot, with each breathe he felt a little bit of the rage subside and the pain come into feeling, he balled up his hands into fists and turned to tend to his comrade whom was still seething with rage at her poor skills as a marksman and hunter

"Will you be okay?" He said with minor concern as he approached her curled up form in the tall grass, No matter how careless of a human he was, he must look out for his own, and this particular one he could not let go.

"Yes" She said in between winced teeth as she struggled to get to her feet. She was clearly disappointed in herself and anger was etched into her features and stance, He quickly tucked himself under her, she was so focused on thinking about her failure that she almost fell over from her lack of concentration, He grunted his displeasure as they started toward the truck "Come on, I'll get you some pain killers and we'll splint up that leg." She gave a pained smile that was barely even noticeable, but being the observing and cunning man he was, the smile was noticed, he gave a minor regard back

"Then we go get the head of this she-beast that did this to you…"

-787-

The form of a red wolf darted quickly through the thicket of the forest, she didn't waver or stop in spite of being cut up by the numerous and painful thorns, vines and out stretched branches that ripped into her fur with blunt force as she passed by at considerable speed, her paws landing quickly and near silently across the leaf littered forest ground, leaves skittered up in her wake, following the air that rushed in to fill the void that she left behind

"_Run, run don't stop running, Can't stop running no matter what"_ Luna repeated this phrase in her head like a mantra as she pushed herself to scale the mountain, In the back of her mind she was sure that when she stopped the pain from her wounds would make her fall onto her stomach and pass out, She was determined to squeeze out every last drop of energy from her body. But perhaps the most important, she needed to get away, from whoever that guy was. She ducked under a fallen tree and continued to run, at this point she must have ran a good kilometer in just a few minutes. A dull, throbbing pain seeped into her sense, her leg ached from the ghastly knife wound that the hunter had been so kind as to give her, it was a cheap shot to say the least, that was by far the worst of her wounds, but it wasn't the severity that was concerning, it was the sheer number of injuries that riddle her body, Their collective pain slowly followed her leg injury, Her pace visibly faltered, she slowed to a pained limp as the adrenaline that fueled her left her, by this time she was nearing the end of Forest and starting to reach the incline of the mountain, there was no way she was going to scale the mountain's stead in this condition. A whimper of pain audible enough for the dullest of hearing came from her canine muzzle, not sure herself if it was from pain or defeat. She limped ahead hoping that some sort of tree truck or cave was large enough to house her in, her eyes darted around the landscape looking for the one thing she desired at the moment, a place to fall into blissful sleep, to rest and recuperate, She tread back and forth, with each minute the pain getting worse and her desire for sleep growing, the mud and muck from the ground that had stuck to her paws was flung up in the gashes near her stomach and hindquarters, That in itself was reason enough to find a place to rest, unlike humans she had fought a nasty infection before and been the victor, she wasn't entire sure if the case would be the same this time around, But her hope was bet on that it would. Her eyes looked up toward the top of the mountain, its peaks concealed by the misty looking clouds that seemingly stuck to the snowy peaks of the earthen giant; she had a long way to climb, through step cliffs and trees. Not to mention whatever wait for her at the top

"At least there won't be any more Thorns" She thought with a smile, it quickly faded as the pain from the aforementioned plants started to become apparent under her fur

A shaded area of rock was captured in her view, she stared at it for a good long time trying to discern if it was simple a shadow or perhaps something more…she limped weakly toward its direction, in the last few meters her heart lept for joy, it was indeed cave. It looked sheltered from the elements and decently hidden, yet one problem still was in her way

It was a good 10 meters up a steep incline, where then the mountain once again became level for a few meters than repeated the process all the way up as far as she could see

Luna felt her energy drain out of her, but she wasn't about to give up right now, Not when she was so close, with what little energy she had left she lept from the ground-much to the protest of her heavily injured leg- and clung to the side of rock wall with her paws, No surprise that she slowly slid down until she lost grip and fell back down onto the unforgiving stone below the cliff face. She whined and sat on her haunches, thinking of some alternative way to scale the mountain, but this time no options were handed to her, she was going to have to climb with claws that were not made to climb. The young woman felt a pang of uncertainty in her subconscious, but doubt was for the weak hearted

She sprang up with all her might and dug her claws into any hold that she could get her paws on, Attempting to crudely make her way up the side, slowly, painfully, and surely she scaled the side of the cliff face, She pawed for the edge of the cliff as she neared the top, but when she put weight on it, it gave a frightening clamor. Her breathe fell short and felt her heart skip a beat, The Holding collapsed and was lost, she scrambled for some sort of holdfast, something that could save her from plummeting to her death, Her claws gripped to the rocky surface but she was still slipping, the scraping noise resounding in her sensitive ears. She screamed and with a powerful last drop of exertion let go of her hold, before she could slip and more she shot out her paws yet again and grasped the cliff edge with her claws which were at this point grinded down to a poorly serrated edge. Luna heaved up over the edge and with an exhausted sigh, she flopped over on her side, her chest heaving, her lungs felt like they were under an enormous weight and pressure, her muscles felt numb and hot. She had never felt in so much pain before, she panted and crawled her way into the cave that was adjacent to her, it was of decent size, about the size of her living room, two rock columns extended out of the ground near the back of the cave. Luna breathed a sigh of exhaustion and limped over to them, She let go the control of her muscles and fell to the ground behind the two rocky pillars, Her breathing was ragged and weak, she couldn't move anymore and simply tried to get in a comfortable position to fall asleep

She missed her bed right now, she missed her covers, she missed her house and In fact, she missed Takashi and Aiyano more than anything

"I hope they made it out okay…." Luna thought with solemn emotion

The image of Takashi getting shot was fresh in her mind, she wasn't entirely sure if the injuries were serious or minor. Like the stubborn Woman she was, she blamed herself

"I should have been faster…stronger…why did I fail? Aiyano was hurt too; did she make it out okay?" These thoughts of regret and sadness consumed her mind, regret and concern following close behind in a torrent of emotion

Her thoughts were plagued by this, leaving her stomach aching from the anxiety, it didn't help that she felt like she was going to die in the next few minutes due to her wounds and exhaustion, the combination of Pain, sadness and regret made Luna feel worse that she had ever felt before, emotionally and physically. She felt weak and helpless and most of all she felt like she had failed her friends who had given so much to help her in such short notice, who without a second thought dropped everything and assisted her. She groaned and screwed her eyes shut; she couldn't think anymore, if she did, Luna was sure she would be up all night. Such self-control was beyond Luna, she felt the streams of tears coming, the flood of anguish and sadness that would consume her until her face was drenched and her throat aching from sobbing

On this night, the Fiery, Proud, young woman named Luna, cried herself to sleep

-787-

Takashi awoke with a pained groan, his thought process was slow and cloudy at best, his first thought that he was able to comprehend was how ungodly his bed felt, and why was there this heat that blanked his right side?

He slowly opened his eyes, it was still a very dark and bleak night, vision would have been impossible if it wasn't for the moon's soft, ghostly white light that illuminated the surrounding area; He slowly sat up and felt a sharp pain to his head, His hand immediately on instinct pressed against the sting that surfaced. _Ouch_, that was a bad idea. That nasty gash on his head was still there, he was glad he didn't lie on that side or he surely would have gotten an infection in it. He slowly removed his hand from his head; Memories from last night came back to him in that moment like a massive wave as consciousness began to surface rather than his diluted perception of the world from sleeping.

- (Minor page break) -

Takashi grasped the steering wheel until his knuckles were a bleached white; He had to do something, _anything_ to keep himself awake. He had driven for a good 4 hours into the night, He glanced to his right; Aiyano had cried herself to sleep. She kept muttering to herself how they should have gone back and helped Luna rather than leaving her to a fate that was so cruel, Takashi felt her pain, he honestly did; but they both knew deep down in a subconscious level that leaving was the best course of action for all of them. Takashi rubbed his eyes furiously with the palm of his hand, they were weighing very heavy at that point in time from Tears , weakness or exhaustion. His mind was already falling asleep from tantalizing thoughts of lying down and sleeping the night away. But he had to keep going, if he fell asleep on the road…well he didn't want to think about it, it was best if he stopped and let them sleep for the night.

'Yea….that would be best, come on Takashi, you can do this. Just don't fall asleep.' He sternly told himself within his mind

An agonizing Twenty minutes passed, No matter how much he told himself to stay awake now, he was going to fall asleep soon. As he rounded a corner he scanned each side of the road, both sided were too open or too dense with tree. If the hunter came after them…well…Takashi at least wanted them to be hidden as best as he could.

'Hold up' His mind shouted, he slowed down and stopped in the middle of the road, he shook his head thinking he was hallucinating, but he swore he just saw an excellent place to park and rest. He put the car in reverse and turned himself around to see behind the car, he knew he was alone out this far from this city, but it was a force of habit. He brought the car back a good 100 meters before he noticed what he spotted. A small trail into the woods was just wide enough for his car. He sighed and put the car into drive and with a sharp intake of air into his starved lungs he piloted the small coupe into the forest.

Slowly applying the brakes, he steered behind the trees and put the car in park, Just a split second after he Shut the engine off he fell back against his seat with an exhausted sigh, He felt even worse when he noticed just how uncomfortable his seat was, He felt his muscles fight back when he opened the door and tried to get out, He took a deep agonizing breath and heaved himself out of the car, He found it hard to stand on his own two feet and stumbled a bit with the heavy throbbing his head produced, The blood wasn't pouring at this point, just drops now fell from the massive gash in his head, Most had caked over with a thin layer or dried blood, That much he could feel, He closed the door and stumbled to the trunk of the car and felt around for the release for a few moments , Success was granted to him and he forced the trunk open with as much, as he could muster, The night was beginning to mess with his head, each sound was making him jump and he found himself checking each direction for fear of that mad man that nearly killed them all

He reached in and pulled from it a large plush sleeping bag, He shifted everything over in his trunk with a weak hand, trying his hardest to find another one for Aiyano but he just couldn't, He must have forgotten to pack one

He groaned at his unfortunate events that just seemed to pile on and on

Sleep was the greatest cure that he could think of, His mind and body yearned for it at this point and it was all he could think about it consumed his thought process

But he really needed to help Aiyano out of the car, He stumbled his way to the passenger side door, taking the keys out of his pocket he fumbled with them for a great while until he finally managed to unlock the door, Aiyano was still sleeping soundly in the seat, But he knew it wouldn't be good for her spine if she slept like that all night, He stomped over to a large green tree that had plenty of space underneath, it had wonderfully fragrant leaves, He unfolded the sleeping bag and set it on the ground, Within a few minutes it was unzipped and ready for Aiyano to lay down in it, he could sleep on a rock at this point in time if he had to.

He stepped back over to the door of his pitiful car, He pondered for a moment in his fatigued mind, how he would be able to get Aiyano out of the car and to the sleeping bag

Well he was tired and he wasn't about to take a half hour to try and get her over there, He reached into the car and was about to grab her bridal style and carry her over to the sleeping bag, without any care in the world how she felt, But he stopped short when the light from the pure white moon hit her

She was so peaceful, Despite all that happened, her wounds, Although ghastly in every sense of the word, Were healing well thankfully, Dried tears stained her face, Her nose still red from crying, His heart Ached with pity

He sighed and removed himself from her close proximity

Takashi stumbled back to the trunk, Sleep now the second most important thing on his list of priorities he thought to himself as he dug back into the trunk

He found the first aid kit that he had packed and seeing the red box with a white cross on it gave Takashi a bit of hope that they may not die from their wounds, a hope that Takashi desperately needed

Sighing he staggered back to Aiyano and got on one knee and began to bandage her, Applying all manners of ointments, gauze and rubbing alcohol

Hopefully that should stop her from getting an infection

Tossing the close kit next to the Sleeping bag he gingerly, Or as gingerly as he could with a splitting headache, began to carry Aiyano's very dainty frame to the sleeping bag. He set her down with as much care as he could muster, then he zipped up the large sleeping back and left her to sleep in peace

He groaned and collapsed to the ground next to her, the pain and exhaustion hitting him once he fulfilled his task. But try as he might he couldn't get this one last thought out of his head, it bothered him for the next ten minutes until he finally succumbed to the numb feeling of sleeplessness

Was Luna still alive?

- (End Minor Page Break)-

He grumbled and fell back onto the grass; he turned to the right to see what the heck was giving him this comforting warmth

Takashi was lying right next to Aiyano; her body giving off a comfortable heat that made him feel so serene, He felt the blood rush to his cheeks, His heart quicken in pace, he stumbled away from her, In shock that they were in such close proximity, his heart made an odd stop in it standard rhythmic beat and his lungs forced his to hyperventilate

He slowly calmed his breathing back to normal; his mind fought a war with his personal thoughts

'W-why did I just do that? W-what in the world is happening to me? What is this strange feeling I'm getting?' A battle of emotion raged on in his head as he tried to come to grips with what just happened

The whole feeling felt alien to him, He didn't know what it was and that bothered the living heck out of him

Takashi sighed, He leaned back and lay back upon the grass, his mind still driving him nuts with a confliction of emotion. He rolled over onto his side

Could it be possible that he liked Aiyano

'Mind, Lets file that under _nihilo' _He told himself forcefully, No wrong feelings of some stupid encounter of him waking up to Aiyano mindlessly cuddling him were going to mess with him

Or so he wanted to believe

He tried his best to divert his thinking process to something else, something not so embarrassing, or unknown? He didn't know, just something to get his mind off of her; But he couldn't stop looking back to her, The way she looked all curled up, The way the light seemingly reflected off her, Her soft features were a bit scarred with a bandage or two from a cut, But that just showed how strong she was.

'Uh enough brain! Let's get off the subject!" he shouted at himself in his head

For once in perhaps his life his mind begrudgingly decided to accept his command

His concerns drifted to Luna, The brave little wolf that saved his life

"Will…..I ever see her again?" A heart breaking question reached him, down to his soul that it was very possible that he may never make it out of this forest, even if he did, would he ever see Luna?

That night he tossed and turned restlessly, questions and more unanswered questions tumbled like a crashing sea inside his mind, Uncertainty and hopelessness his only two companions

That night the Tall, quirky, party loving young man Takashi felt himself vulnerable, The cold cruel world closed in on him, he once thought himself invincible, both himself and his friends, that death was only a thing that happened to old people

But now despair was knocking on his door, And Death was right behind him

No wonder he fell asleep, unable to cope with the stress of his own thoughts

-787-

'_Oh man the pain….'_ Luna's first thought that morning was not surprising, the ache in her body didn't dare to leave during the time she slept; In fact she was almost certain that she felt worse than before when she went to sleep

With a strained groan she lifted herself to her feet, she sought out support to stand from the columns in the cave that she had slept behind, she rubbed her arms in a futile attempt to get rid of the stinging pain but that really didn't help much but to make her hands raw

'_At least I'm human again'_ she thought with a minor optimistic attitude, She stretched as much as she could to get rid of the dull ache in her muscles that overwhelmed her whole body, She felt a bit better after she popped a few of her skeletal joints

It felt a bit weird to be honest, to go from Human to wolf and Wolf to Human. Now that Luna was on the mountain she actually question how in the world she could do such a thing

'Guess it has something to do with metamorphosis or something?' she said quietly to herself, she sat down with her back against the rocky pillars nearby, her mind a mess of emotion and wonder

'Aiyano…..' Her mind called out to no one, she pulled her legs to her chest feeling insecure without her double, and she was really hoping that they could both scale the mountain together, get through this together, figure out what the heck was going on with Luna together. Scratch that she didn't hope that her double was with her, She _needed_ her double to be with her.

A thought came to her mind and she quickly shook her head, trying to get rid of the sickening thought

'_What if she died?'_

She wanted to think that Aiyano was alive, no matter what, but the possibility that the hunter or whatever he was tracked her down was great

'I shouldn't have run…..I should have brought them into this….' Regret swam over her emotion like a tsunami, her heart twisted into a knot at the pain that it brought, at that moment she didn't care that she was covered in ghastly wounds or internally bleeding from her fight last evening, she only cared about Aiyano and Takashi

'What friend am I? To run so quickly when they were so vulnerable…I could go after them…but how far off are they now?"

Insecurity ran rampant and she felt herself squeeze her legs tight against her chest, tear were starting to form

'How will I catch up to them now?' IF she were to go run after them to help her two friends, there was very real possibility that she would kill herself by straining herself too much, they could be miles away from her, and the hunter could be only Meters away from them….

'I need help…..' That much she convinced herself of

'The people…..up in the mountain….would they help me?' She gave a lot of thought into that, She could try and kill herself going after The hunter and Aiyano, or muster up enough strength to get to the top of the mountain and ask for help

'What….what if…..they aren't friendly?' she questioned, her mind half set on scaling the mountain

'If they weren't friendly, they wouldn't have invited you to the mountain…' she told herself back, It was settled, if she was ever going to help Aiyano and Takashi she wouldn't be able to do it sitting here and thinking

She gazed down at herself, she was riddled with cuts, wounds and blood stains. Though she noticed that she was….in a lack of clothing. She cursed to herself, forgetting that transformation left her clothes where they were. Her bag was still at the base of the mountain with the rest of the luggage that Takashi left in his escape. No way would she be able to climb without some form of clothing. She idle glanced around the cave in some false hope that she would have something here to use as clothing, but she was wiser than that, and was well aware that no such thing could be found in a simple cave on the side of a mountain. But, her gaze stopped over the entrance of the cave, There, propped up against the cave wall was her backpack. It didn't have as much clothing or supplies in it as her duffle bag. But it was something; she scrambled over to it and spent the next few minutes dressing herself with the small first aid kit to get rid of all the blood on herself, The rubbing alcohol stung her wounds much like the thorns stung her last night, but she was getting rid of a chance of infection. That in itself made Luna much happier, Once she was done, She promptly dressed herself, All she had was a small pair of jeans that the Americans loved so much and a yellow t-shirt, It was absolutely nothing fashionable but she didn't want to pack her best clothing only for it to get ripped on her way up the mountain. Now she only wished that worrying of clothing could be the greatest of her problems. Sighing in absolute relief she sat down next to the cave entrance. Wonder how she brought the bag up the mountain in her wolf form, she was certain that she didn't….She turned a ghostly pale color. She didn't bring the bag with her; it was left down at the face of the mountain. Who….or what brought it to her? She didn't dare think about it. Lest she spend even more time sitting in the cave, but just as she was to get up she noticed something peculiar on the her backpack, she plucked it up with a slow and steady hand. It was a hair, in the brightest shade of white, who or what had white hair? She shook her head, realizing that if she sat in this cave much longer she would be wasting time, precious time that takashi or Aiyano may need, she clambered out of the cave, her bag in tow and fully clothed, she gazed up at the sky; it was already past noontime, nearing more toward the 15th hour of the day

'I shouldn't have slept so long…' she cursed to herself, She gazed up at the tip of the mountain, she had scaled a good kilometer last night, but then again that was the easy part of the mountain to climb, now the scale was rather steep, it would be increasingly difficult the further up she went

Luna wouldn't waste time anymore, it was now or never; She began an even paced jog up the mountain, the incline wasn't too much greater than a hill at this point so it didn't kill her ankles to jog, With any luck she might just be able to get to the top without actually having to 'Climb' anything, Rather she could hopefully walk up the mountain without anything else involved

Of course Luna was always a bit on the optimistic side, but even still she didn't face any problems other than her leg giving her a fit, despite changing physical forms, wounds do not disappear leaving the large gash ever present on her thigh, The pain from it wasn't too bad, the accelerated healing of being a wolf had made it numb, and it no longer exuded blood, really the only hindrance it brought to Luna was the discomfort of a stray tree branch or bush twig that brushed up against it as she climbed

Despite being a mountain, the foliage extended far up the sides of the mountain, not much rock appeared on the surface of it, which was puzzling as Luna thought more about it; the only visible rock was when she actually looked for it as she passed by on her way up the mountain, or near the mountain's peak. Anywhere else was covered in a lush green shrubbery and vegetation; it was pleasant to say the least. It remind Luna a lot of the backyard garden that she used to play in at her father's Villa, The odor of the plants were similar all the way down to the texture of the grass, Life was brimming everywhere and she could see all manner of wildlife. Luna was so amazed by all the diversity of life that she did not notice how far she made it up the mountain

Squirrels jumped from Cherry blossom trees to Katsura trees and played in their Orange, Heart shaped leaves. Martens scurried up the trunks of the trees and joined the squirrels in the tree tops, Sables stayed hidden in the trunks of the smaller trees eager for a meal, waiting patiently for any small animal to pass in front of it watchful gaze. Luna giggled when a pair of Tanuki invaded the Sable's hiding place and startled him out of his domain; they chased the poor member of the weasel family around until he finally ran up a tree that was too difficult for the Tanuki to follow. Birds sang a diverse and restful melody as they perched and preened in the highest of Japanese maple trees, The sable that had been chased out of his hole decided to take his anger out on the birds of one particular tree and scared them off in a flurry of feathers and growling, Luna couldn't help stifle a laugh, She passed by a giant ground of flowers, Bees and all manner of insects swarmed the beautiful and imaginative flowers that bloomed in the great forest of the mountain, Luna jumped when she noticed the Giant Japanese Hornets that joined in on the colorful array of insects, She used to be deathly afraid of them, their size was scary enough for her as a young child, Being that they were nearly the size of her palm, however as she passed by the flowers of the mountain she was content enough to observe the massive insects go about their business, Luna noticed out of the corner of her keen eye that a weasel sat in wait for the insects to land on the fallen sakura flowers underneath a Sakura tree, She passed by before he could catch anything. She was sure at this point she had observed all the fauna on the mountain, what was even more interesting is that they didn't seem to mind her presence, merely going about their business as usual, even the fox, one of the trickiest and most solitary creatures she ever knew, was comfortable with her attendance, although it kept its distance unlike the others whom didn't really care. She watched closely and kept her eyes locked with the Red fox as she passed, it looked back with its slit eyes, expecting her to do something

'Boy you are lucky I'm not Aiyano mister fox, or else I might have tackled you and tried to keep you as a pet' She thought with a laugh but the realize whom she was talking about, that put the silence back in her spirit and her thoughts

She turned her head away from the fox and look forward; That is when she noticed just how far up the mountain she had gotten, and how late it was getting, The sun was only a good couple hours away from setting, But she was more interested at how much distance she had climbed

Luna had scaled a good kilometer and a half, she squinted her eyes and lifted her stare to the top of the mountain and tried her best to judge the distance from the top

'Well….im guessing if each tree is about 20 meters tall….then that would mean that I'm….about…..' she gave big grin 'A kilometer off from the peak' She thought with jubilation, she picked up her pace and continued forward, but as she leveled her gaze back with the ground in front of her she stopped dead in her tracks, She could only gawk at what lay in front of her

A sika deer herd was right in front of her, grazing on the lush green foliage that the mountain provided, They immediately took notice to her, all ears locked on her, a few males snorted toward at her, and the fawns all took cover behind their mothers, her breathe was caught in her throat, she was sure that they were to run from her, however much to her surprise they slowly, albeit cautiously, dismissed her, Not too concerned with her presence or perhaps, not bothered by it

She observed in childlike wonder, offhandedly putting her main objective to the side, to seek help for her friends. But she needed a quick rest, her mind needed a rest, her body needed a rest, but even though she was focused on the deer, she never forgot her friends. Feeling like she truly needed this calm moment she slowly sat down and watch the family of deer go about their business.

Luna giggled softly at one fawn that she paid careful attention too, he stumbled around a little lankily, unable to walk properly, however he was curious with all his surroundings, observing everything he could, the mother Deer tried her best to keep up with the energetic youngster

As the young fawn turned a tree he nearly head butt a Tanuki that was heading around the same tree, They both locked eyes, one waiting for the other to make a move, The Tanuki ran and he chased after with a stumbling gait, Luna laughed as the little fawn tried his best to catch the swift Raccoon Dog, The Tanuki ran behind a tree with the fawn right on his tail, but what lay behind the tree made them both squeal and turn the other directions, The fawn ran back to his mother and the Tanuki darted up a nearby tree

Luna watch the who ordeal and she quickly got to her feet, her felt her blood run cold and her heart pound against her chest. A male Sika gave a loud, long bellow and the whole herd darted away in a thundering of hooves

Now Luna was genuinely scared, she hid behind the tree she previously sat up against, She peeked around the tree's girth unsure of what her gaze might spot, She looked to and fro but nothing was out of the ordinary, however she did notice that the birds stopped their beautiful melody, The one that she had already grown so accustomed too

The once loud and busy forest got eerily quiet; Luna could feel her spine chill with the thought of something lurking in the woods beyond her sight

'Where is it? Where is it?' she screamed in her mind, she looked everywhere!

But behind her, it was the last place she looked, the corner of her eye, the place you don't want to look when you are scared

She felt its breath, whatever ungodly thing was behind her she was going to die by its hands, she couldn't do anything, and at this point she hoped for her end to be swift.

'Aiyano is still waiting for you Luna, You need to save her, and she will die without your help' her pupils dilated, that was right, she was fighting for something, for someone. But she couldn't do that if she killed herself trying to take this thing down, she thought over the plan of changing into a wolf, but she quickly dismissed that as she wouldn't be able to change quickly enough

She took a deep breathe, her heart trying to beat of her chest, the creature didn't attack her, at least not yet

She need to run, or turn around and find out what she was up against

'Now or never' She held her breathe and turned around to face whatever may kill her

And she instantly knew that she wouldn't win this fight


	6. Chapter 6

Mythology: Night Bane

Chapter 6: Ex Nihilo, Nihil Fit

-787-

Luna turned around with a held breath, her mind racing and her heart pounding, she closed her eyes.

She would come face to face with the adversity that was behind her, eyeing her at this very moment, lest she die by it. When she was sure she had turned one hundred and eighty degrees, she opened her eyes, ready for anything that lay in her eyesight, ready to fight tooth and nail to the very last copper tasting breath

_Nothing _

She exhaled exasperatedly, and felt a upsurge of relief over herself; she even gave herself a little chuckle, she couldn't believe she was getting herself all worked up over nothing, She leaned left and right, Looking behind the nearby trees, but saw not even the slightest sign of animal life. Although Luna did feel that heat on her neck, she was almost certain that it was something breathing onto her; it had to have been literally right behind her.

But she could have been hallucinating; she tried to reassure herself, trying to keep herself from the conclusion that she could have been followed by some creature, some beast that stalked the woods

In the back of her mind she wanted to get out of here, sticking around here wouldn't do her any good and it wouldn't do any good for Aiyano. She shifted her backpack with a grunt; she kept looking behind herself, but began to walk forward; making sure nothing would come out from behind the trees, as always her nerves clawed at her senses like some cureless disease.

"Well maybe I can get out of here unsca-OOPH" She had run right into something large and…..furry? Luna fell back onto the ground onto her seat, she froze in fear and kept her eyes focused on the ground, she didn't dare look up right away, her eyes wide in dismay. Now she was scared, No, _Horrified_. There really was something here, and it was right in front of her, waiting to tear into her like some demonic torturer. Her nails dug deep into her sweaty palms, her lungs were starved for life giving air as she held her breath. The beast in front of her growled, the rumbling noise shook through her, she whimpered and looked away, not wanting to meet its eyes, she hoped that those old childhood stories of the monsters disappearing if you didn't acknowledge them were true. She sat with her hands supporting her from behind; bravery flashed in her for just a sliver of time, she ever so slowly looked up. Her mouth fell agape and her eyes wide

A massive wolf sat down in front of her, examining her with cautious but curious deep blue eyes, its dark brown fur blew about in the wind that gusted over the mountain. It seemed harmless at first, almost like it was just observing her. However this beast of a canine was not harmless, its massive paws looked to be large enough to crush her head and its claws longer than her fingers, its massive head as large as her whole torso. She nervously got to her feet, and backed away slowly from the wolf, her hand shaking in front of her as if they would somehow protect her; never the less, she wouldn't dare let it get any closer

*Thunk*

Until her back hit a tree; she gasped with raggedy and uneven breath, she was so terrified she had lost the cognitive function to breath properly. She watched the wolf slowly get closer with eyes that held a torrent of terror behind them.

She felt so tiny compared to it, When it sat down it was a good two heads taller than her, and nearly a meter and a half longer that she was tall, Even though she was a very capable fighter, she felt that she couldn't win this battle if she tried. She idly wondered if even that madman of a hunter could survive such a formidable foe

It began to circle her, she felt her palms drench with sweat; she didn't dare to move a muscle, for fear of misinterpreted body language. The brown colored beast circled her, with each following circle that it preformed it got closer and closer, once it completed the sixth, it slowly came to a stop, then sat down on its haunches in front of her

As the beast regarded her with an absolutely…..cryptic stare….She had seen her full of animals and even some she would consider human, But this wolf….was way beyond such levels.

Luna then realized just what was staring back at her, No wolf was this smart, No wolf knew that she wouldn't hurt him, No wolf could be like this. No beast could show such an array of thought and inquisition. A deep silence fell between the two of them; even the forest seemed to lend them a time for a still moment, even the animals seemingly stopped their calls of the wild. Luna kept her mouth shut, not believing what she was seeing

Luna finally spoke up, in nothing but a whisper "You are just like me….aren't you?" She asked, her voice slowly raising in pitch, the wolf cocked his head, not understand quite what she meant

She huffed and spoke to the massive canine again "Beneath that fur, your human just like me….right?" She hoped that he would be, that perhaps someone had something in common with her, that perhaps someone on this planet earth shared in her sorrow

It narrowed its eyes, not giving a definitive answer. Luna got annoyed and grit her teeth, but she quickly reminded herself that getting angry with a beast of this size would not do her well at all. Realizing that this massive canine could understand her, she continued her questioning

"Well…..the people that live on the mountain, are…..are you one of them?" Her green eyes took in the clear blue irises of his own. The wolf ever so slightly nodded its head. Not removing it gaze from her.

Luna felt excitement lift its way into her spirit, she genuinely smiled and let her teeth show out of pure joy. "So there really is other people like me?" her enquiry was met with another nod of the head. Luna couldn't take it, after years of feeling like some abomination or sick experiment gone wrong, she was finally going to be among people that were like her. The sheer amount of emotion she felt was driving her to giddiness. This sudden display of emotion unsettled the wolf a little bit. Luna, being the observant young woman she was, caught on rather quickly to his fidgeting and realized that it was due to her strange behavior

"Oh sorry…I'm just so…..relieved to hear that I'm finally going to get help with this…..curse…." She spat the word out like poisoned wine, the wolf however snorted in mild anger; it curled its long tail around in front of its paws, the action akin to that of a human clenching their fists. Luna took notice, and interpreted his body language correctly, she lowered herself into a bow, apologizing for her hurtful words in a way that lacked and did not require any language of any kind. The wolf snorted and lifted it head up, giving the impression that it accepted her apology, but it was not concerned if it did not receive one.

"Well….If you are from the mountain….then can you help me?" Luna pleaded with eyes that would rival that of a young child. She shuddered as the wolf leaned down to her level, Luna froze as did the canine, the wolf took notice of her anxious shifting and gently lowered its muzzle and nudged Luna ever so slightly in a comforting manner, Luna smiled in a genuine way, but such an expression vanished quickly "My friends….they….they are hurt bad….someone hurt them while I was climbing the mountain, I tried to save them but I wasn't strong enough….They drove off….I couldn't follow them…I'm really hurt….But….The people on the top of the mountain, they can help me can't they?" Luna asked, she pleaded with the creature that sat in front of her, her eyes bleary with tears, for if this wolf denied assisting her, then her friends may very well die.

The wolf took a moment to think, or so it appeared he did, the blue orbs that contained dark, black irises left her gaze for perhaps the first time sense they connected. The wolf's attention was focused upon her question, and Luna was starting to question wither or not the wolf had just simply dismissed her, Much to her relief he then looked back to her and nodded ever so slowly.

She lit up with a smile "Oh thank you so much! You have no Idea how much this means to me!"

The wolf growled, but not like a threat, it sound much like a chuckle, it turned around and began to walk away. Luna followed close behind him as they began to scale the mountain, Now, Luna had a chance, a chance to help those she loved.

-787-

Most of the remaining climbing was done with the wolf guiding Luna, No words really were uttered by Luna, and she felt it best that if her companion could not speak, than she would not either. The mountain's Slope was grand, but the wolf had led her to a path which had a much more manageable incline. The leaves flittered down beside from the trees, landing in the wolf's fur every so often, Luna giggled as he growled and shook the litter off himself, and he gazed back to her with a soft expression of amusement, before continuing their trek.

Luna had gone a little while before taking notice to something odd, the wolf's presence had not startled the other fauna that clambered about the mountain, no sika deer had been seen, but that was to be anticipated. As Luna slowly got bored, she began to take a bit more notice to her surroundings, She had to admit, despite being on the trail the mountain didn't look at all inhospitable, quite the contrary, In fact she imagined that a nice little cottage on the gentle slopes would be much like heaven on earth, with no one to bother you, nothing but the opinion-less and playful animals, and the sweet smell of Japanese maple leaves. That thought brought to question, where or how did this clan properly live on the mountain? She was certain that if they were as large a group as dictated, than they would have to have a massive village or something along those lines, perhaps even a large cave, She idly thought of asking the wolf if he could tell her what it was like, but stupidly forgot that he lacked any vocal cords that could produce Japanese. She turned her gaze to the wolf, who she noticed was walking along at a very lazy pace, his ears flicked at every minute sound; his senses were far more acute than what met the eye. When Luna finally decided to look at the sky she lastly observed that should have been obvious at the very beginning at her observations, it was getting dark, very dark in fact; the moon wasn't even shining on this side of the mountain. Leaving the entirety of the mountain in a dark, creepy atmosphere, the moon's flittering light was nowhere near the light required to walk around with confidence, But even with the unsettling, ghostly and cryptic nature of the night. Luna was still determined…albeit terrified out of her wits

The wolf didn't seem to mind, Luna was sure he wasn't disturbed at all; heck he could most likely defend himself from a group of bears. But Luna one the other hand had much to fear, having watched one too many horror films back in Tokyo, she was left comically scared. Her head quickly looked in every direction; any little sound making her jump out of her skin. She kept her hands tucked against her chest and her back arched forward, she ran up beside the wolf, staying a bit closer to the wolf now that her overactive imagination ran rampant. For obvious reasons, the wolf had been the best choice to stay near rather than away from him, As anything that dare attack them (Really….nothing would) would be quickly dispatched by him. He looked back at her, her strange behavior catching his eye, Luna smiled sheepishly at his large blue eyes that seemed to glow in the night, and he huffed and turned to face his front yet again. Luna kept looking behind herself, making sure nothing trailed the two of them; And for the second time she ran headfirst into the side of the wolf. It didn't bother him but she stumbled back, she rubbed her head with a growl "Hey what was that for?" She demanded to know, she looked up at the wolf, wanting an answer for his behavior.

He gestured with his head toward the front of them, his ears flicking with the motion, they were now about 2/3rds up the mountain, so they must have been close to their destination, she looked over to where he had directed, and she took a deep breath to try and suppress her surprise "That is a big cliff…" She said with astonishment, as her eyes drifted skyward to observe how far up it went

In front of duo was a sheer cliff, it ran about the mountain like a ring, and scaled up the mountain for a good 50 meters, the last obstacle in their way, or so it seemed

"Are you serious? Why would you guys make a home past this….thing" She swung her arms around for emphasis. Directing her complaint at the cliff

The wolf snorted and rolled his eyes. he slowly walked up to the cliff, took in a huge lungful of air and hurled himself up the cliff, jumping nearly 4 or 5 meters at a time, Then he would grab hold of little tiny outcrops of rock and jump up again, He did it so quickly and efficiently, Luna rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing the real thing.

He looked over the edge toward her and gave another laughing growl, as if he was laughing in her face for assuming that it was difficult for the wolves that lived on the mountain.

She stuttered, her green eyes wide with astonishment "Bu-You…..how you expect me to climb this?" She yelled with discourage and annoyance

He laid down on the cliff edge, waiting. Taunting her almost. Luna was not one to be taunted, let alone challenged; it had been a cold day in Hell when she would give up. If this was the only obstacle in the way of getting her to safety and her friends back to the city, then not even an apocalypse would stop her.

However as her eyes took in the full breadth of this cliff, and how little it outcropped, her fiery confidence dimmed.

She huffed to the wolf; she knew that even though he was a good 50 meters above her, he could still hear her "I could have ridden on your back or something ya know…" She said quietly as she approached the cliff wall. But, despite the appearance of inevitability, she still remain vigilant, for her friends needed her, she cracked her knuckles and jumped up, the first grip being weak and shoddy, She slipped and howled with pain, Luna sucked her lower lip as she inspected her palm, a bleeding gash met her eyes, she cursed to herself and rubbed at it vigorously, A little cut wasn't going to get her down. Once again she jumped, and this time she gripped the side of the cliff like she was trying to crush it, she held fast and with a laugh of confidence continued to scale upward, Luna jumped up once more and managed to grasp a nearby outcrop, she squinted at the top of the cliff, the wolf cocked its head at her, curious why she had stopped. Luna sighed and continued to climb, ever so slowly, the outcrops getting more and more precarious as she got up higher, almost in some sickening pattern

"Don't look down….Don't look down…..don't do it Luna….don't look down" She told herself as her heart rate rose, She did want to see how high up she was, but she was sure it was high enough to kill her if she fell. Luna poured all her strength into climbing, desperately trying to end this terrible experience, So far she had reached certain spots where the outcrops were too far apart and she had to _jump_ to the next closet one, She almost missed the last one…

The wolf waited patiently at the top, where it had taken him less than two minutes to climb the wall, it was taking Luna nearly thirty, but she was glad he wasn't complaining.

Luna looked up, and was nearly there, just a few more meters to go, the top was almost in sight, she would be able to help Aiyano now, she would be able to help out takashi and finally be among these people whom were one in the same with Luna. She purposely repeated this in her head, Attempting to gather hold of all the confidence she had and pour it into this haphazard clamber of the Cliffside, After exhaustion, anxiety and stress rapt it way through the young woman's emotions for a solid 43 minutes, she found herself near the top, The wolf stepped back as she neared the edge of the cliff, she laughed breathlessly, but happily. She had made it. She had bested this ancient piece of geology

Luna grabbed the edge and tried to hoist herself up; her arms were starting to shake from non-stop walking, climbing and exertion. Such strenuous activities were not fit for someone in her current condition. Luna knew that much, but still she managed to throw in a laugh at the wolf, who was chuckling at her every time she yelped after a holding gave way.

"Ha-ha, who is laughing now?" she said almost out of breath, her hand reached out for the very edge of the cliff…

_**Crack**_

A cruel mistress called life is laughing, and she is laughing at you Luna

The edge of cliff broke off, Luna panicked as she scrambled for any sort of hold, but nothing she attempted to grab had any sort of grip. She fell a short but absolutely terrifying sixty centimeters before she managed to grasp another hold on the cliff, a small eroded piece of igneous rock was her life line, her heart was racing, Luna lifted her other arm and clung to her wrist, But this rocky outcrop too began to crack and break, Luna's eyes widened, she knew there was no way out of this, She screamed to the heavens, to anyone "HELP ME!" her voice cracked, Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and they refused to let anymore air enter, The wolf sprinted right over to the edge, He reached a paw down for her to grab as best as he could, His whimpers managed to snap Luna out of her death stare. She groaned and tried her best to hoist herself up to his outstretched paw but it was just too far. Luna tried her hardest to reach, her muscle felt like mush and her mind was moving too fast to be coherent but she knew she had to try, She reached and stretched her arms as far as she could, her arms not used to such terribly painful strains, It felt hopeless as each second passed by . The wolf must have known it too because he pulled his paw back up and ran away from the cliff's edge. That would have made her blind with rage if she wasn't holding onto a breaking holdfast. She watched with her bleary green eyes as her lifeline ran away, and a few seconds after that her holdfast slipped from the rock, shattering her hope for survival

She watched as she fell away from the world, a massive 23 meter drop awaited her. 'So much for helping Aiyano…..I'm so sorry….I should have been better…..' She thought with her last few moments of consciousness; for nothing but death awaited her at the bottom of this rocky grave

Luna was ripped from her self-destructive thoughts as a hand firmly grasped her wrist, stopping her in midair, her mind couldn't process it, could she survive?

She looked up with tears stinging her eyes; wondering what had saved her from such demise that most torturers would see as a fitting end. Past the moon that shined in her eyes, she cast her gaze upward, she could see a shadow, one of a young man, whose face she couldn't see. He was straining to pull her back up, whoever he was, he had saved her life.

"I've got you! Hang on!" He shouted to her, she felt hope and joy fill her heart, He let out a strained groan as he tried desperately to pull himself and Luna back up the cliff, But he was too far over the edge; his grip was slowly being lost, Luna could see it and felt all that hope flow right back out, into the cruel embrace of death. She admired him, whoever he was, for making the futile attempt of saving her. He cried as his hold on the cliff was lost, they both began to plummet, Luna gave up in the moment, ready to accept her end, but the young man was not, He grabbed Luna firmly and pulled her into his embrace, her back to his chest and his back to the earth. he held onto her tightly, Luna felt her heart pause, not entirely sure how he was able to do something so quickly, To say the least in her last few thoughts she felt safe in his arms. But no human could ever survive this fall

A sickening thud of flesh impacting the ground was all that she heard last before darkness enveloped her

-787-

Aiyano awoke with a start, her eyes wide and heart racing. She brought a hand to her chest, she felt her heart beating faster than she could count and her stomach felt like she had ingested raw sewage

'I hate nightmares….' She thought miserably as she tried to get herself calmed down. Her nerves bit at her like an annoying bug. She looked up, It was in that moment when she noticed she wasn't in her bed at home, her eyes scanned all around, trying to find anything familiar or comforting, the night sky didn't let her see much in the way of exact location but she was in a forest….all alone…..Time to panic. Before she could scream out in worry and terror, A snore from her right told her she wasn't as alone as she thought, she glanced to her right, sure enough takashi was laying on the grass near his car, he looked rather uncomfortable but somehow he was still able to sleep, This is when Aiyano took notice to how comfortably she slept, she glance down to the sleeping bag that had made kept her warm throughout the night.

'Did….takashi do this for me?' She thought to herself, surprisingly her arms didn't hurt nearly as much as they did when she fell asleep in the car. That realization left her mouth agape. Aiyano looked at the bandages on her arms and legs; the realization was much like a smack to the face, none else could have done this for her, and she was positive that she didn't do it herself. Takashi had bandaged her, taken her out of the car and set her down in the sleeping bag. There was no other explanation; Takashi had taken care of her. At first she felt a bit violated, Not that Takashi would have done anything lecherous, But some of the places her bandages were in…were a little too close for her comfort…though her wounds were all dressed and no blood stained her skin like it did before she fell asleep. Aiyano really didn't know what to think, she felt either disgusted or extremely thankful, but she was alright and Takashi deserved some thanks. Aiyano lay back down, her eyes slowly becoming heavy again

'Oh man…I haven't felt this tired in years…' her body began to relax and all thoughts slowed to near nothing. But sleep wasn't something she could indulge in right this moment, a noise; no more than one might find a mouse to emit came from near Takashi, She cracked open her eye, Irritation boiled in the back of her mind. But when her eyes focused she jumped out of her sleeping back with a sharp gasp

Someone was crouched near takashi, not making any noise what so ever, Aiyano observed him reach down and check takashi's pulse, The figure stood up and Aiyano gasped, She was used to Takashi being one of the tallest guys on campus but this guy made him seem short, he stood near 180 cm, and was a thin, but built figure, she couldn't make out much details about him because of the shadow of the tree, the moon's minor light did nothing to help the situation. Then she felt a lump in her throat, he started to turn toward her, and she was in no way able to fake being asleep, she was in a rock and a hard place

She came into his view and he immediately knew she was awake, But he didn't do anything drastic or overly dramatic. He just stood for a moment, trying to figure out what to do from this point on. Aiyano had taken over from their

'W-who are you?" Aiyano managed to squeak out into the still night, no noise came to her, not even the idle sound of the forest and its inhabitants.

He didn't respond right away, Aiyano felt even more threatened as each second passed. Then he walked toward her, she panted and held her breath, He was going to hurt her or kill her, she was almost sure of it, He was with that hunter guy, Right? There was no other explanation. He stopped right in front of her and observed her for a moment, she had to crane her neck to look up at him, and then the silence was broken

"Help, do you need it?" He asked in a young, youthful voice. Though he wasn't playing around; heck for once she wasn't playing around.

She shook her head "N-no…what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice cracking as she scooted her sleeping bag a bit away from him. He didn't answer; she was getting tired of having information withheld from her. His voice rang out in but a whisper once again; "I am to check on you, the hunter attacked you right?" He asked, finally breaking the hostility that Aiyano felt toward him

She really didn't know how to respond "Y-yea…we did, I'm okay but I'm not sure if he is" she gestured to Takashi with a bob of her head

The young man literally _sniffed _the air; the first thing that it reminded Aiyano of was a dog that was hunting for a squirrel, the second thing was how utterly speechless she was toward the absolutely odd prospect of him sniffing like a dog

He spoke to her, breaking her thoughts "I don't smell an infection, but that doesn't mean he won't get one, Fix that wound and you should be fine, But be warned if he does get one, he won't live through the next day, it's much too severe." He turned to leave, His footsteps near silent on the grass, his speech was quick and short, and Aiyano felt as though he was in a hurry

Aiyano reached out with her arm, her eyes pleading "Wait! I don't know how to bandage or even dress a wound! You have to help me!" In all honesty she didn't, it's not every day that one has to perform a major field dressing of a wound, especially one as serious as a cranial injury

An audible sigh came from him as he turned his head to gaze at her in the corner of his eye, not convinced enough that he should stay. Aiyano lowered her arm, her head followed suit

"Listen I don't know who you are, But I need help, My friend might die all because I don't know how to dress his wounds, So I'm asking you…Please….Help me" Aiyano absolutely hated being a damsel in distress, though she never really had any situations that could label her as such. Now she was all alone in the wood with Takashi who might not wake up from his deep sleep and some stranger that she had never seen before nor heard of, if she ever was in Distress this would be the time.

He shifted to his left and right foot. She could tell he didn't like it, not in the slightest, but he turned around and began to walk back toward them, Aiyano sighed in relief

"Thank you so much, you don't know much this means to me dude" She said, slightly more comfortable with him being around

He knelt down near that medical kit that was propped up against the front left tire; He opened it and began to rifle through its contents, totally ignoring aiyano's previous thanks

She wasn't going to pretend, that was downright rude, but complaining to someone that was helping her was not wise. She stood up out of her sleeping bag, her head pounding from the pain of her wounds, though they weren't anywhere near as bad when she had fallen asleep in the car. She turned her line of sight back to the young man who was already beginning to apply some disinfectant to Takashi's wound on the side of his head

Aiyano's felt her pupils contract as she notice just how gristly that awful wound looked, She had gotten a glance or two during the ride but that was it, Now that she got a good look she had no idea how takashi even managed to stay awake let alone drive them all the way here.

The gash extended from the outward corner of his left eye to above his ear and across his skull, the wound was deep but luckily it didn't shatter any bone. If it did….well…. that would have been devastating, it was scary to think just how bad It could have been for the both of them in that fight back near that mountain

"Luna…." She thought; the memories of the fight swam back to her faster than she had liked, had she made it out alive? Her heart ached for her sister; she chuckled at that, the fact that they were so close that calling each other sisters seemed too impersonal. Aiyano groaned at sat up, her legs ached and her back was inflamed, but none the less she walked over to the car and leaned against it, Right behind Takashi and the young man, He visibly squirmed at her close proximity, but relaxed after a few minutes. He never looked back toward her, but kept checking the corner of his eye

Aiyano giggled a bit at his strange behavior, it was almost as if he feared that she might be able to do something to harm him. She was able to get a better look at him now that he was in the light of the moon. The first thing she noticed made her shake her head to be sure she wasn't dreaming, His hair was pure grey with a few streaks of white intermixed, It was long, shaggy and unkempt, his shoulders were rather broad and his hands were slightly disproportionate to his thin and lanky frame.

"Seriously though dude, Thank you so much, is there any way I can repay you?" She said with an uneasy smirk, although he couldn't see it, she shifted her feet when they started to hurt from standing

He finished wrapping bandages around Takashi's head and was sure to make it good and snug so it wouldn't unravel. Aiyano was impressed by his delicate and careful application. She snapped out of it when he stood up and turned toward her

Now she was intimidated, aside from being a good thirty freakin' centimeters taller than her, his eyes made her flinch in wonder, They were the clearest blue she had ever seen, putting her own to shame. He kept his eyes half-lidded, not too trusting of her yet

"You can repay me by never speaking of your wounds, myself, and anything that concerns the mountain, Got it?" He said with a stern and baritone voice, betraying her first impression of him being young. She nodded with a cheeky smile and a nod of her head

"Can do, but could I ask you a few things before you go?" she asked in but a whisper, her curiosity getting the best of her

He stopped and thought for a moment, not moving in the slightest way, his eyes shifted back and forth, carefully regarding her request. Eventually he exhaled slowly "Make it quick"

Aiyano grinned, her first assumption was where he was from, and She had a pretty good idea but didn't want to start spitting out random rabble "You….you are from that clan aren't you….in the mountains…." She asked timidly, hoping that it wouldn't make him mad

She could instantly tell that he was going to be reserved about it, his stare left her, in doing so he totally ignored her question and instead, asked his own "You are worried about your friend aren't you?"

Now Aiyano was freaked out, how did he know that she was going to ask that? "Uh…y-yea, is she okay?"

He gave a simple nod "you have nothing to fear"

Aiyano felt a world of relief fall over her, She collapsed to her knees, the very definition of liberation was with her, she was a prisoner of worry and anxiety no more, she was now in the company of peace and respite "Oh thank goodness…" Her lungs let loss a torrent of exhalation, her mind calm and her heart slowly beating

"Is that all? I really must be going…" He said turning away, his hands clenched in anxiety, her let the girl have her moment of peace, but he was in no such state.

Aiyano raised herself from her position on the ground "Wait, your name….what is your name?" Aiyano couldn't say why, but she felt obligated to know his name. After all he had helped her greatly, such an obligation is justified.

He walked passed her toward the road, trying to get across the point that he wasn't interested in talk "I'm afraid I can't say, Good night, and stay away from the mountain; you will live longer that way"

Aiyano felt too distant from this guy, and some strange innate feeling told her that this wasn't the last time they would meet, it would be best for the both of them if they knew each other's names

"Please, Can you just clue me in? I would like to be able to thank you properly" She hoped he would submit to that, after all it wasn't a demanding request, more like a proposition

He sighed once more, his eyes screwing shut in the process

His pure blue eyes opened and he stared right at hers, his face scrunched up in mild annoyance "My name is Snowstorm, And you're welcome" He turned and stomped away now, not caring about the sound of his footsteps, Aiyano stood in wonder as she tossed the thought of his name back and forth in her head, It was odd and peculiar….but at the same time it was so…. Cool! Aiyano liked things that were cool, she looked to the moon for a moment and then to Takashi, when she glanced up, he was no longer there, she gasped at his utter speed and silence, two impressive but deadly qualities. Aiyano earnestly was worried, she was worried that Takashi might still be at risk, her concerns for Luna were put to rest, but as for Snowstorm….She was worried that it would be there last time seeing each other….

At least for now….

-787-

Did you ever wake up with a headache that felt like there was a knot in your head? And the more you move the more it felt like someone tightened that knot? That; multiplied by 10 is what Takashi felt like right now; He didn't dare to open his eyes, even if the early morning sun invaded his senses. He groaned and turned onto his left side, blocking out most of the rays of the sun. Clouds provided him a decent amount of shade, and a few more minutes of sleep, in his current condition, Takashi was more than grateful to have those extra minutes, however a few minutes of sleep when you have only slept for a few hours' makes you feel even worse. It gives you a longing for more rest, rest that cannot be given. He gave up trying to avoid the sun any longer, it was such a futile attempt to try and shade out the very thing that contributed to most of the life on the planet. Takashi opened his eyes to the world, the bed of grass beneath him making a resounding crunch noise as he shifted his weight to get comfortable as he sat up

He took in the surrounding environment, the _first_ thing that he noticed made him jump with horror, he clutched his face with a shaking hand. he couldn't see out of his left eye, the realization hit him like a brick, and terror flooded through him much like a tsunami, He clawed at his eyes, trying to see if it was just some sort of sick joke and that Aiyano would be turning the corner now, snickering with a mischievous smile on her face. To his utter defeat, she didn't.

"Aw no! That's not good!" He shouted and attempted to get to his feet, He instantly regretted it

A wave of pain from his headache twisted through his skull much like a serpent twists through the grass, invading his entire sinus area with a fierce, aching pain.

"Owww…..shouldn't have done that either…..ow…." His body was inflamed and his head wouldn't dare let him move any more, He lay down on his stomach in a terribly uncomforting position, He reached up to his head, hoping to dull the pain by depression upon the area, forgetting that he had a wound in that area, but when he put his hand upon it, he then noticed as he reached up to his head he didn't feel caked over flesh anymore or sticky blood that dripped out of the ghastly wound, Instead, with much relief on takashi's part, he felt the coarseness of a gauze band, He felt instantly better, As his worries of infection could now be abolished. However he took a deep breath and tried to not to freak out over how he was blind in his left eye

'Aiyano…did she bandage me?' he idly thought as his gaze drifted to her sleeping bag. The lack of depth perception made it seem much further away than it actually was. He wasn't sure if she was there or not, he couldn't make out her silhouette

"Aiyano?!" He called out to her, hoping that she would respond in her annoyed and fiery voice

The whistling of wind through the branches of the trees and their mint like scent were all that he received. His heart started to beat a bit faster now, If Aiyano wasn't with him, and then where was she? Was she in trouble? If she was how could he tell? Would he be able to help her? Question after question was presented to him by himself, filling him more and more with worry until he had enough, he stood to his feet wobbly, his head pounding in protest. Clumsily he made his way to his car which was but a few meters away if even that. He reached out to the hood of it to find support only for his hand to hit nothing with a cry of despair he fell to the ground

"Gah!" he winced in pain, he never realized just how much he missed depth perception until that moment. He sat up in a crouched position, his head was still giving him a fit so he didn't dare to stand up too quickly. A few deep breaths later and a pained grunt and he was back to his feet, this time he calculated correctly and managed to sit up against his car for support. Now he could think properly

"Now….I would assume that Aiyano was taken…but that doesn't tell me why I would have been left….She could have been hurt by an animal but I….I didn't see any blood…"He felt sick to his stomach after thinking of something that dreadful

"Takashi!" He heard a voice from behind himself, he turned around and awkwardly looked around to find the source of the voice, and Aiyano waved her hand from the tree line to the left of his green car. He breathed one of the longest sighs of relief he had ever heard

"Or…She could have just gone for a walk in the woods….I guess it true what they say….freaking yourself out does more harm than good" He slowly faltered over to the left side of the car, Getting closer to Aiyano. He felt a twinge of sympathy for her, The many wounds she had procured from the battle still littered her skin, He felt a bit better when he saw that the bandages he had wrapped around her were still white, Meaning that the wounds weren't bleeding anymore or not as bad.

He smiled meekly and winced in pain "So, I guess I should be thanking you for these bandages huh?" he nearly whispered, after all he would be in terrible shape if they managed to get infected.

Aiyano gave him an odd half smile, He frowned in return. Something was off about the way she reacted about it "Well….I doesn't know how to explain it…. But…. someone came by last night, I got woken up by him…" She was interrupted quickly by Takashi

"What? Someone found us! Why didn't you wake me? Oh man they didn't do anything did they?" He said in a flurry of worry and questioning as he looked her up and down for fresh wounds. She took a deep breath and subsided her annoyance with his worrying. "No Takashi don't worry, he was friendly.."

He sighed in relief "Well if he was, then what happened? He bandaged me then?" He said as leaned back onto the hood of his car, he tried to relax as best he could

"Yes he did, He was….odd Takashi…I think he was….one of the people Luna went to see…" She said looking away toward the forest, deep in thought

Takashi was instantly interested, His attention fell exclusively on Aiyano "Really? How do you know?" Aiyano chuckled lightly; a bit half unsure of herself, Takashi frowned. Something was off about her

"Well you know how Luna has red hair?" She asked him, but didn't look him in the eye

"Yea what about it?" He wasn't sure where she was going with this and quite frankly he thought she was going completely off topic

"She has, Like, The reddest hair I've ever seen, it's got that odd color of being really, really rich in color but not bright, You know?...Well he had something like that, His hair was….Grey and white, But that same inexplicable richness in color. I can't explain it to be honest but that and him being close to the mountain and the fact that he didn't try to kill us makes me think….he may be a wolf creature too…." She was so deep in thought she didn't even raise her head to observe his reaction

"Well…..I guess I should've thanked him…" Takashi said idly, but he was more focused on what was wrong with Aiyano, He walked over and placed a hand on Aiyano's shoulder "Aiyano….what else is bothering you…."

She shrugged his hand off with a grumble and a sneer "It's none of your business Takashi, Its just…Something I have to think about"

Takashi chuckled throwing Aiyano off guard, then he began to genuinely laugh.

"What? What are you laughing at takashi?" She gave him a shove, He didn't respond immediately, but he slowly died down with his laughter. He composed himself as he wiped the small, few tears from his eyes

"Did you already forget?" He said with a highly amused expression

Now Aiyano was really confused "What are you even talking about?" She furrowed her brow in frustration, He better start making sense.

He cleared his throat "Back at Luna's Apartment, I made a promise that I would help my friend through this. You did too. We both promised to help each other no matter what.

Aiyano choked on a sob "You and your memory Takashi…." She chuckled, knowing exactly where he was going with this, Knowing Takashi he would bicker on until she told him, and quite frankly, she really didn't feel like fighting back this time

"Fine, Last night I saw this guy, he was checking your pulse and I freaked out, apparently he was making sure we were okay…Don't ask me why…But anyways he told me that you need a bandage really bad, if your wound got infected…you…you would die, No doubt about it." She gazed off, and wouldn't dare to meet his own gaze, Takashi wasn't an idiot, in fact he nearly guessed what was wrong, but he was no mind reader and did not wish to make any overzealous assumptions

Takashi sighed, and rather than assume, he inquired "Listen Aiyano, it means a lot but why hide that from me? Why be upset over it?"

She grit her teeth, her eyes beginning to fog up with tears "Cause that isn't what I'm upset about now, I'm upset that I….I couldn't help you alone….If I couldn't simply dress that wound to keep you from dying, then what good am I to Luna? What help will I give that she doesn't already have?"

Takashi felt it sink in, Aiyano doubted herself, she felt useless and weak. Knowing Aiyano, that must be one of the worst feelings she could have "Listen to me Aiyano, Just because you can't dress one wound doesn't mean anything, Luna needs our help, we have to hold down the fort for her, keep her parents occupied and keep our classmates from ruining her reputation, so when she comes back, Everything will be okay."

She looked away from him, taking in a long breath of air "Will it be okay takashi? Will it really go back to normal? Can you say that for certain?"

Takashi knew she was looking for reassurance, and he wished he could say for certain, But he couldn't. Not yet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "No. I cant. But guess what Aiyano, in the crazy world there is a brilliant little thing called faith. It's an odd thing, to invest hope in something you can't truly know for certain or for a fact. But the cold hard truth is that you cannot know everything, so tell me then, what do we have when you can't or don't know for certain?"

Aiyano didn't know what to say, she was still trying to find out how such wise words could have come from someone like Takashi. She did find out one thing though, she found out that she felt a lot better.

"Thanks….Takashi…..really" Aiyano managed to stutter out

He chuckled "Your welcome, like you said, what are friends for?"

She smiled back "I'm pretty sure I said what are _sisters_ for"

Takashi rolled his eyes "Oh my bad, like it wasn't close enough"

Aiyano giggled "Nope, it wasn't"

He shook his head lightly, He then thought of something "Aiyano….do you think that Luna is okay? I mean that hunter was pretty brutal….I hope he didn't catch her…"

Aiyano smiled broadly "I don't hope Takashi, I know, The Guy last night told me she was fine, well…he said I have nothing to fear about it….but I think that is the same thing…"

Takashi narrowed his eyes "And you believed him? Like I said, people are cruel and can lie just as easy as they can walk and talk"

Aiyano rolled her eyes "Takashi, Would this guy lie if he went out of his way to keep us safe? If he is from this clan then they _want _her to be safe, didn't you just give me a speech about faith?"

He bit back quickly "Your right I did, but my faith in humanity was long gone." Aiyano smiled

"I guess it's a good thing that guy wasn't human then wasn't it?"

Just hearing that phrase sent shivers down Takashi's spine, not because of its validity, but because that among them was something…._inhuman_

"Fine, I think by now I can trust this clan considering they have already helped us out" He said with minor reflection on the subject, for he really didn't have an alternative. Aiyano patted him on the back "Atta boy"

He rolled his eyes "Come on now, we have a lot to clean up back in Tokyo, you have any idea what we should try first?"

She thought for a moment "Well, its Sunday….so we should try and get a letter out to Luna's Father and mother, then on Monday we should try and get rid of all the rumors that will be starting at school, If not then she won't have a school to go back too"

Takashi face palmed "Oh no, Look at us! We are all scared up and we are supposed to go to school tomorrow! Not to mention your parents!"

Aiyano rolled her eyes "You did a pretty good job, I think I may heal up this week, but until then I can try and cover them with some long sleeve shirts, some makeup should deal with the minor cuts on my cheeks"

"What about your Dad? Will he be happy to see a giant gash in his son's head?" Aiyano asked him, Takashi shook his head

"He is out on the rig, won't be back for a few months" he said with a dejected groan

"Really? Didn't he just get back to visit?" Aiyano asked, feeling a twinge of sympathy for Takashi

He nodded and changed the subject for obvious reasons, All that Aiyano knew was that Takashi loved his father, and that he was never around to receive that love "Listen, don't worry about me, what I'm concerned about is how we plan to explain to the teachers and the principal that Luna is missing"

Aiyano didn't really have an answer for that, it was going to be difficult; that much she knew "I'm thinking we could possibly get Luna's Father's Signature and forge it to a note saying that Luna will be home for a little while…." The first plan that came to mind was shared with Takashi

Takashi looked skeptical "You think they will buy that? I mean if they do I guess we could say in the note how we would be responsible for taking her school work to her, or have it mailed to her apartment" Aiyano looked to him for a bit, then cupped her chin in deep thought

She shifted a bit, as she too was a bit uncertain "Well all we can do is try, it shouldn't be too hard to print out a letter, you know like Attorneys do, then just have their bosses sign at the bottom, they wouldn't be surprise to have a note like that come from someone as important as Mr. Tierra, after all he has dozens of offices"

Takashi smirked, genuinely impressed by her thought process and idea "True, it wouldn't be hard at all to find a pre-existing format for a letter on the internet, and knowing the school they aren't really that thorough….we could have a big chance at pulling this off...if we do it right, we won't have any room for mistakes…." Takashi Lamented as he thought a bit more into how exactly they would carry out such a scheme, it was risky…and had a lot of reasons to fail, but what choice did that have in the matter? Luna's would return to a normal life that would be in ruins and tears. He was intent on making that a false premise.

"We can talk more about it in the car, it's getting to be mid-day, and we should really start heading back" Aiyano said staring at the sky and the position of the sun, taking in knowledge from a previous space science class

"Yea I agree, Boy…Luna better be happy we are doing this…" Takashi said with a disbelieving groan, he cracked his back into place and shook himself of the odd feeling

Aiyano opened the passenger side door "I'm sure she is Takashi, Knowing her she would be elated" He smiled back to her, His mouth a think curved line, That was enough to let Aiyano know he was very happy. She sat down and waited for Takashi to gather everything

Takashi went around gathering the sleeping bag and the few blankets that were scattered around the area where they slept; He ambled over to the trunk of his car and dumped his hand's contents into it. Dusting off his hands he walked to the driver's side and got into the car with a grunt, seizing the key from his pocket, he started the car up and manipulated the gear shift

"It's an adventure right?" He said with a grin

Aiyano grinned back "It better be"

-787-

Luna was sure she was dead, she had heard of children and teens passing away from similar or even less heights, but the drop she fell from? She was sure she had been mutilated by it; she moved her hands into a more comfortable position….wait….hands? Was she not supposed to be dead, in a place like limbo or someplace that the dead go? But…she was conscious…alive…how can that be? She took in a bit more information that her mind could pass to her in its sluggish and weary state, which was not much by the standards of senses, However despite that fact, she was able to decode the messages they were sending her very clearly. The air around her was clean, fresh but dry, in this case dry air was not a bad thing, It carried a wafting scent of maple wood and the sharp, clean smell of a wonderful internal air conditioning unit, Said Air conditioning was making the temperature around her freezing but she was relieved to feel the familiar touch of fabric and wool, and the comfort of a pillow behind her head, In short, she was in a bed or something like one. However being in a bed after falling from a cliff to your certain doom would provoke anyone's curiosity. Luna slowly opened one eye to observe her surroundings, her view was a bit hazy and she felt very groggy, she still felt a bit sore but it wasn't anything like after she fought with the man at the base of the mountain. Above her was a ceiling that extended a good three and a half meters from the floor, it was constructed of a thick, red and dark brown wood. She carefully sat up and opened her other eye, to take in her surroundings. Around her was a room, It had thick dark wooden floors with a glossy sheen of temperament, the walls were of rounded planks that sat atop each other horizontally, granite covered the corners of the walls. Beautiful furniture like a dresser, Armoire, desk and even a chess table, all constructed of exotic and wondrous colors of wood, she took notice of the bed she slept in, it was large and covered in blue sheets and was too constructed of the same wood, Now that Luna observed it a bit closer it looked much like the Japanese maple trees around the forests however she didn't know where the dark colored wood came from, she was stumped in that department of guessing, back at her father's villa they even had a few Japanese maples in their private forest, but she had never seen a color like the other wooden planks. Paintings covered the wall sparsely, they were wondrous illustrations of flora; Luna really felt a theme of "Forestry" in this room, as nothing else exhibited anything that conflicted with said theme

Her careful examination of her environment came to a halt when she detected a slight noise of a door opening to her right. She held her breath, not sure of what exactly would be there waiting for her gaze to land upon it, he heart beat against her chest and apprehension made her curl her toes

"Awake I see?" a feminine voice called out to her, Luna was genuinely surprised to hear the voice of another female, and she felt a small twinge of relief that it was another girl

Luna decided to put to rest her concern and observe the owner of the voice, when she turned her head to the door she lost all her thought process, too enraptured by the sight before her

A young woman stood in the doorway, Long streams of pink-red hair flowed down to beyond her shoulders in a cascade similar to that of a waterfall, she was a bit taller than Luna if she could judge height correctly from where she sat, Green eyes of emerald looked back at Luna with a kind and calming contemplation, a wonderful intellect not too far behind. Her face was clear of any blemishes and strikingly beautiful, she stood up straight with proud confidence, her bodily shape that of a well-developed and fit young woman, Her arms and feet were dainty and well-proportioned to her body, She had her arms folded into each other in front of herself, and a kind, warm smirk upon her face as she regarded Luna with interest, she wore a long kimono that was stitched with wonderfully accurate and detailed cherry blossoms, and but perhaps what Luna noticed next about her is what made her truly make sure she wasn't sleeping anymore.

Atop the young woman's head were two ears of a wolf, both a rich red in color, the girl smiled with a gentle expression, taking notice of her utter astonishment

"Hello Luna, nice to finally meet you"


End file.
